An Art Installation In Front Of Moorgate Station
Today, a new sculpture was installed in front of the new entrance to Moorgate station.
I took a few pictures.
Note.
- The sculpture, which is in bronze and entitled Manifold (Major Third) 5:4, is by Conrad Shawcross, who I talked about briefly in Job Done – I’ve Now Had My First Covid-19 Vaccination.
- Conrad is the guy in red t-shirt, who can be seen in several images.
- I’ve never seen a large sculpture installed before and everything went smoothly!
I have some thoughts.
More On The Sculpture
This page on Art On The Underground is entitled Manifold (Major Third) 5:4, where this description is given.
Manifold (Major Third) 5:4 by British artist Conrad Shawcross RA will be found outside the western entrance to the Elizabeth line station at Liverpool Street later this year. The artwork is a vast bronze sculpture representing a chord falling into silence extrapolated from observations of a Victorian pendulum-driven drawing machine known as a harmonograph, which was instrumental in the birth of the science of synaesthesia. This sculpture is the physical incarnation of the mathematics within a chord.
Note that I am of Conrad’s father’s generation and had a large Meccano set, like many of that generation. I must have built four or five Meccanographs, which were a harmonograph, built out of Meccano.
Bronze
The sculpture is in bronze, which is mainly an alloy of copper and tin.
My uncle; Leslie was an artist, who had won a scholarship to the Slade before the Great War, although he earned his living as an engineer. I do have two of his drawings, of my mother and his wife.
But he was also a capable sculptor, and sculpted and cast a bronze of a Hanoverian horse, which would probably be, the family possession, that C and myself would have loved to have owned. It is now owned by his granddaughter, who was also one of our bridesmaids, when we got married in 1968.
I also have another link to bronze. My father was a letterpress printer and his largest customers was a company called Enfield Rolling Mills, who rolled copper and other non-ferrous metals including bronze into various shapes.
I don’t know whether they invented the process. but sometime around 1960,Enfield Rolling Mills started to continuous cast bronze. I seem to remember that their bronze tubes were used in the original UK nuclear power stations.
Because of my father’s long-established friendship with the owner of Enfield Rolling Mills, I used to earn money there for my studies.
3D Printing
Bronze, other metals and even concrete can now be 3D printed.
I suspect we’ll see 3D printed sculptures appearing with greater regularity.
Other Materials
These pictures show Conrad Shawcross’s sculpture outside the Crick Institute.
It appears to be made out of weathered steel, which is often seen used in railway bridges and other structures.
In Denmark Hill Station – 4th September 2021, I talk about how the roof at Denmark Hill station is made out of steel covered with solar panels.
Could outdoor sculptures be made with steel covered in solar panels?
Southern Baptists Expel US Churches With Female Pastors
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The US’s largest Baptist denomination has voted to expel two churches for having female pastors.
These paragraphs outline the article.
A vote by Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) members found Southern Californian megachurch Saddleback and Kentucky’s Fern Creek Baptist Church were “not in friendly cooperation” with SBC, the Baptist Press reported.
SBC’s mission statement says the office of pastor should be “limited to men.”
Fern Creek’s pastor told CBS News it was a “sad day for Southern Baptists”.
I must admit I’m not religious and only enter rarely enter a church, cathedral or other place of worship.
I suspect that the last few religious services, that I have attended have been funerals and I can’t remember one with a male celebrant.
In the parish, where I live, we used to have a female vicar but she has been promoted and we now have a male vicar.
Should the change either way matter to anyone? It’s surely about the quality of the work they do!
Don’t Call Them illegal Immigrants, Sadiq Khan Tells Civil Servants
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
These three paragraphs outline Khan’s new instructions to civil servants.
Sadiq Khan has told civil servants not to use the term “illegal migrants” but instead use “undocumented” migrants or those “with insecure immigration status”, according to internal guidance.
Produced for City Hall workers, the leaked inclusivity guide tells employees that instead of using “men and women’” they should say “people” or “Londoners”. It also advises the estimated 1,300 people who work for the Greater London Authority that the terms “male” and “female” are “dated and medicalised”.
“Similarly, instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’ say something that doesn’t exclude non-binary people,” it reads.
In the 1970s, I can remember C and myself listening to a magnificent play on BBC Radio 4, by Václav Havel called The Memorandum.
The Wikipedia entry says this about the play.
The play is a black comedy that parodies bureaucracy and conformity. Havel wrote it prior to the Prague Spring of 1968 as an ironic satire dissenting against communist rule. Despite its veiled themes, the play was approved by government censors and published. The Memorandum centers on the introduction of a new language, “Ptydepe”, that is meant to make work more efficient despite having the opposite effect. Sam Walters considers The Memorandum to be Havel’s masterpiece.
Khan has obviously seen the play and feels he should sharpen up his act.
North Korea: Residents Tell BBC Of Neighbours Starving To Death
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
People in North Korea have told the BBC food is so scarce their neighbours have starved to death.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Exclusive interviews gathered inside the world’s most isolated state suggest the situation is the worst it has been since the 1990s, experts say.
The government sealed its borders in 2020, cutting off vital supplies. It has also tightened control over people’s lives, our interviewees say.
How long are we going to let Kim Jong Un starve his people?
The Lady In A Sari With A Fag
She was standing in Leicester Square watching people with a partner.
It just didn’t go!
Merseyrail Saw Over 90,000 Extra Journeys Made As Eurovision Revellers Travelled Across The Region
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
These two paragraphs outline the story.
Merseyrail has reported an approximate increase of 24% in journeys made when compared to the same period in 2022 with an extra 90,000 trips made with the rail operator whilst Liverpool hosted Eurovision.
Special strategies were put in place to facilitate the increase in passengers, including late-night services to support the two busiest nights with trains running into the early hours following the Grand Final.
Sounds like Liverpool had a result, even if the UK didn’t.
Can ‘Enhanced Rock Weathering’ Help Combat Climate Change?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
In a quarry surrounded by the din of heavy machinery Jim Mann crouches down and picks up a handful of tiny black rocks.
These three sentences introduce Jim and his magic dust.
“This is my magic dust,” he says with a smile, gently rubbing them between his fingers.
He’s holding pieces of basalt. It’s a hard volcanic rock that is neither rare nor particularly remarkable.
But through a process known as ‘enhanced rock weathering’ it could help to cool our overheating planet.
This Google Map shows Orrock Quarry, where the basalt is mined.
The article then gives a simple explanation of enhanced rock weathering.
When one of the companies, I’d backed won a green design award it was presented by David Bellamy. I remember having a very radical conversation with him, about some of the projects, where he’d been an advisor.
Some might have dismissive views about Jim Mann’s work as being too good to be true, but when I see the chemistry, I suspect,I’ll find it to be sound.
It would be a very interesting process to mathematically model!
Spain Launches App To Show If Men Shirk Housework
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Spain has announced plans to introduce an app that promises to address the gender imbalance of housework by getting users to log the hours they spend on chores.
At least it’s a free app!
Cara Delevingne Champions Fossil Free Hydrogen In Dazzling Beauty Campaign
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the sub-heading.
The eco-conscious Delevingne teamed up with Vattenfall to raise awareness about clean energy.
This is the first paragraph.
The English model and actress is no stranger to beauty campaigns, having experience as the face of Burberry, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent, but her latest campaign with Swedish multinational energy company Vattenfall, aims to raise awareness of clean power using fossil free hydrogen compared to burning fossil fuels.
There is also this video.
I suppose she was paid well for it and after her BBC series; Planet Sex With Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne, we all know she’s game for many things, but you wouldn’t catch me jumping into water like that, as I can’t swim, despite endless attempts to learn.
The Anonymous Widower 