2011 Streak: Day 144/365: Walk 4.5 miles, Time 1hr 25min, Weather - sunny but the wind was cool
This picture is another in the series of 'objects found in water', probably the most common object - a shopping trolley.
What interested me was the way the reflection has cut it up to make it look extremely narrow (and hence totally functionless). it reminded me of the Citroen DS by Gabriel Orozco, the Mexican artist. who took the car, sliced it longitudinally in three and put it back together without the middle section. (A picture of it, and an article about him can be found here).
There was an exhibition of his work at the Tate Modern at the beginning of the year, which I visited. (The Tate site still has the details and a rather nice video). Obviously it made an impression that has hung around in the back of my mind because as soon as I saw this trolley I thought of the car.
Obviously as a cyclist the piece in the exhibition that caught my eye was 'Four Bicycles (there is always one direction) where seat posts and stem have been removed and the bikes have been joined seat post to head post. It is work of surprising balance.
Afterwards I read the description in the exhibition guide and was struck by how badly the work was served by the writer:
The precarious result challenges the laws of equilibrium and points metaphorically in countless directions. It can be seen as a reflection on the itinerant condition of contemporary life.
The rational response is: it doesn't and it isn't. The emotional response is a desire to slap the precious writer around the chops. My actual response was a weary sigh.
You will be pleased to know that a trolley in water points in very few metaphorical directions.
