Saturday 26 November 2005

Corporate Art

25 November - Got into town really early this morning but there was no-one at the other end for about 29m - at least had a chance to drink my coffee and enjoy the swinging pendulum feature inside 885. One thing I’ve noticed in Vancouver is that there is a lot of abstract corporate and government funded public art - and for the most part, it is really good. I'm not the biggest fan of corporate sponsored art in public for the most part. Usually, to me, it's pretty soulless in appearance to begin with and the fact that it was conceptualised as a tax write off doesn't add to the allure. Sometimes it can be really pleasant but I usually find it a wank. Maybe its because i'm just in a foreign country and I want to see the best in everything but I really like the public art in Vancouver. There is a fantastic upside down house near the waterfront which is a bit stylised but is makes an incredible viewing in its place down near the waterfront. My favourite would have to be the swinging peulum in 885 though it's enormous, about 39m long and a metre thick and it's suspended from the roof and swings just a few metres from the ground over a base the same shape as it. It looks like a supporting beam for the roof but it's not connected to anything. It's really very unnerving.
When the dispatcher's finally came on I found it was a little bit slow early on although got busier when it started to rain. I think all the corporatts were suddenky reminded of homuch they dislike couriers when it started to get drizzly and so decided to punish us by making us busy in the worst conditions. Did have the pleasure of seeing my apprentices out in the streets on a couple of occasions riding away with complete confidence in their new jobs, all thanks to my expert guidance, of course. Afterwards went to Wendys with Stu, my co-worker who will talk for hours without letting anyone get a word in edgeways if he's allowed, for some quickly digested comestibles and then I ent down to the Brickyard for a few beers with some other coworkers. I only stayed for three beers but it was going to be a very long one for some of them that night. Some live the most terriblly unhealthy lives. They chain smoke, even while riding, they drink from the afternoon (lightly) through to the late evening and beyond (heavily) and some are almost permanently chemically enhanced (or more likely chemically crippled). A lot of them ar almost constantly partying and some of them have been doing this for 25 years!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i can't believe anyone reads this stuff