Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Echoes of Harringay: 'Useless' bike racks at Turnpike Lane are being passed off as 'art'
Image: T&WG Indy
In an echo of the episode in Harringay last year, the T&WG Indy carried the following story this week:
Bike racks outside a tube station are now “public art” according to the council.
People have claimed it was difficult to lock more than one of two bikes securely to the metal objects, which were constructed outside Turnpike Lane station.
Now, Haringey Council have said that they were always intended as an artwork, rather than being badly installed – but that people are welcome to lock their bicycles to them.
In response to a constituent’s question, the council said: “The recycled bike racks have now been installed not to be used as cycle stands. The works have been implemented to the agreed design as a piece of public art.
“If cyclists wish to lock their cycles to them it is at their discretion.”The response was posted on twitter and has been derided by some members of the public.
More on the T&WG Indy website.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judith Box on
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Stretching their definition of art a bit there then.
If Art is something that provokes an emotional response then my one is certainly laughter. In fact I can have a good chuckle now every time I go past!
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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(f)art.... with a silent 'f'!
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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RECENTLY I saw this 'artwork' that the Council has described as playful (a PR terms that Haringey residents will hear more of in future, or see the effect of).
This style of bicycle rack – in the shape of a buried safety pin – was I think first deployed near Wood Green Shopping City. Anyone who owns and uses a bicycle – as I do – knows that they're less practical than the standard Sheffield style.
I'm not convinced the safety-pin racks were originally intended as art. I'm not sure if the Shopping City safety pin jobs are still there, but regardless, it appears that the Council had a surplus of the inferior stands and decided to reuse them as a barrier and designate it public art.
There are 18 (eighteen) racks in the photo.
Haringey Council's provision for cyclists is amongst the worst of any Borough in London. There is a need for more proper bicycle racks in numerous parts of the Borough. The safety-pin racks were yet another waste of money.
The Council frequently favours form over function and style over substance.
Bicycle rack design is no exception.
The safety-pin stands are not alone: along Green Lanes we have the stylish and failing bike racks (discussed here and here).
These elegant styles are gradually succumbing to wear and tear. They're weak due to being (a) multi-part welded or brazed and (b) of quite thin metal. I saw a broken one recently and guessed the thickness of the pipe to be about three or four millimetres.
Because they're a weak structure, they're more likely to be bent accidentally (making them less usable) or deliberately, by a thief.
Unfortunately, cycling has a low priority for Haringey Council. Those responsible for cycling facilities are either not cyclists or don't have a practical view. In my opinion, this "playful art" shows contempt and disregard for cyclists and their needs.
CDC
Cyclist
Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
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Permalink Reply by JJ B on
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"Haringey Council's provision for cyclists is amongst the worst of any Borough in London."
Let's not mention their sanctioning of TFL's ill-conceived CS1 onto the promenade bewtween 7 Sisters and Tottenham Green. It isn't quite finished yet but... it has several interuptions in it where pedestrians MUST stand or cross it or where it just disapperars into the narrow pavement or area which CHENEL students use to socialise and smoke. It is visually intrusive in an area recognised as teh historical corridor with benches and tree aligmneent just all over the place. The area in front of the Wards Corner site where more money was spent to put down patches of CS surfacing which stops suddenly 5 metres into an area of heavy pedestrian use.
Totally ill-conceived and not what is suggested by 'activating the public realm' in ARUP'sTottenham Physical Development Framework: Tottenham Green &am...
See pages 47/51/52 - it shows a lovely green space with trees.2.Removal of the gyratory system will reduce the impact of traffic and improve the pedestrian experience by enhancing permeability.
A waste of scarce resources! Box ticking STUPIDITY AT ITS HEIGHT.
WHERE IS THE COHERENT PLAN FOR MAKING THE MOST OF THE HISTORIC CORRIDOR?
But I suppose that is what they mean by
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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As sculpture they're not interesting, as bike racks they're useless, so zero points I'm afraid.
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Michael it hadn't occurred to me to rate them as art.
How would you rate them for Playfulness?!
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Clive, if you fancy a bit of a play on them I'm happy to watch but shan't join in.
Seriously though, a playful work of art should make you think. These don't. There are some sculptures in Kings Cross that I walked by for years thinking they were just bollards. One day I looked a little more closely and they were made from black marble. Certainly not to everyone's taste but they had me pondering.
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I've seen playful art. This isn't such, but it does make me think. But only of waste.
It might'nt quite so objectionable if it hadn't been so close to a bus station and an Underground station, where the public actually needs real, functioning bike stands.
This morning, locked my bicycle up near Highgate Station to a standard Sheffield. No nonsense.
Hopefully, if Turnpike Lane (and Alexandra Palace) get the nod for Crossrail 2, this nonsense would be swept away by TfL who may know more about good cycling facilities.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Congratulations to Haringey artist Tubesey on "Re-re-cycled". His first entry for the 2016 Art in the Open Festival.
Meanhile I hear that despite completely unpredictable, unforeseen, don't-mention-February delays, rehearsals are now well underway for the highlight of the 2017 Festival: Marcus Garvey Library - the Musical. Starring Klara Klobber and Bob the Rebuilder.
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Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside) on
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I always thought that they were part of a giant 'buzz wire' game.
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NOW, this Playful Artwork has been recognised by the Evening Standard.
Meanwhile, the artwork on the corners alongside Green Lanes is becoming bent. The artist may need to return to their canvas.
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I am one of the constituents that complained about these racks, and I received a similar response. My belief is that the 'sculpture' story is just that; a story, a lie cooked up to cover up a mistake. I have to believe this, because I cannot bring myself to believe that anyone would look at some left over bike racks and think "What Haringey needs is less infrastructure, more art".
There is a wider issue, about the shared space between Langham and Westbury Ave. The racks create a barrier which sends people on bikes using the space into conflict with pedestrians using the footway. I asked about this and was told "like all locations where cycle facilities start/finish adjacent to pedestrians there will always be some form of conflict". The absurdity of this statement, that conflict is inevitable, had me give up on the correspondence; there is so much wrong with this statement I don't see how the people responsible for these things will ever get what is required of them. They did offer to move a bin.
This is the mindset that infects Haringey Council. Bicycles are not seen as a mode of transport, but as toys, or a form of sport, not deserving of resources, something to be squeezed in around existing infrastructure. There will never be any progress with effective bike infrastructure in the borough whilst the needs of people in cars and the traders are paramount; everybody else can go to hell.
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