The Art of The Poleable

 

As received from the pen of the Whining Ninja. Unfortunately the picture suffered in extracting it from a word document, but the apocalyptic sky is somehow appropriate.

Worst Public Art/Sculpture, guest post by Whining Ninja

Am I the only person in Perth to wonder just why a solid stretch of Abernethy Road, in Kewdale is littered with telephone poles. Each night when I drive home I am intrigued by the semi randomness of these treated pine phallus that line the streets of this industrial strip. They don’t line up. They are not the same height. Some, as you can see, have been painted an industrial shade of yellow – a shade shared with earthmoving machinery, deep sea submersibles and processed uranium.

 

poles.jpg

I think this is the result of the council’s decision to save money on public art whilst offloading twenty tonnes of CCA treated telegraph poles bought cheap as a random length bundle. Too much time spent watching Home Improvement; too many hours spent stencilling tromp lei vine leaves on salvaged 1970’s chairs; too much confidence as a result of owning Readers Digest DIY books; too little regard for the boundary dividing art and what is not art.

The only other explanation I have is that somehow, the tender for public art was accidentally faxed to Western Power lines division. Perhaps there were lots of men in hard hats and neon yellow overalls wondering if this was the latest plan to reduce electrical pole top fires. It scares me to think that there is a street somewhere in Kewdale, delivering power to residents via a haphazard network of cast eucalypt bough’s and abstract bronze depictions of the white settlement of Guildford.

Whine on Ninja, whine on you crazy diamond! (My bolding. i just love that line)

Unknown's avatar

About AHC McDonald

Comedian, artist, photographer and critic. From 2007 to 2017 ran the culture and satire site The Worst of Perth
This entry was posted in worst public art, worst sculpture and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

10 Responses to The Art of The Poleable

  1. Golden1's avatar Golden1 says:

    I’ve never seen an artwork more in need of an angry koala with a crowbar.

    Like

  2. meccano's avatar meccano says:

    Whinging Ninja, forgive me for asking, but is your photoshop work an attempt to enhance the work or perhaps to try and portray how the viewer/motorist may feel when confronted with the piece? – Or is this how Abernethy Road actually looks these days? If so then I think we may have bigger issues at hand than bad art.

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  3. AHC McDonald's avatar lazyaussie says:

    it’s the fault of microsoft word

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  4. meccano's avatar meccano says:

    Oh, I see thank you L.A

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  5. AHC McDonald's avatar lazyaussie says:

    I keep thinking, maybe it’s not supposed to be art. But then, what is it if not? I will write to the council to find out.

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  6. AHC McDonald's avatar lazyaussie says:

    UPDATE ON ART OF THE POLEABLE
    Have emailed Belmont Council for more information on whether this is art. More info, the instant the info comes in.

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  7. seanys's avatar seanys says:

    Hmm, I’m not so sure it’s art.

    I think it’s actually the pole equivalent of an Entmoot

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  8. meccano's avatar meccano says:

    #7 Seanys, Does that then make the Bell tower Isengard and Dicky Court Saruman?

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  9. Cimbali's avatar Cimbali says:

    I was just listening to the ABC news and they mentioned some bloke who “…left his post under a cloud.”
    I was wondering if it was something to do with this photo.

    Like

  10. PatB's avatar PatB says:

    There are some on Dundas Road near the Forrestfield marshalling yards too. I think they might have appeared first.

    Like

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