Tuesday 10 December 2013

Mysterious Barricades


As promised, here is a better view of that mysterious "ladder and barrier" installation at the side of the Nuffield Theatre yesterday.  As was suggested in the comments, this is clearly a ceremonial assemblage: the ladder goes nowhere, and the barriers bar no-one, although their unmistakably apotropaic colour and configuration clearly relate to various folk-beliefs concerning the avoidance of scalar subambulation.  "Mysterious Barricades" indeed (Couperin).

Meanwhile, across University Road, the empty Faraday Building -- home of the Peregrine Falcon, Vodafone masts, and precious little else -- was bathed in a crepuscular glow.



9 comments:

David Brookes said...

I like your Couperin reference, Mike - now how about a photograph to illustrate "le tic-toc-choc"?

Unknown said...

"avoidance of scalar subambulation"

So I shouldn't walk under the piano when someone is practicing scales?

Struan said...

You could probably work 'pareidolia' or 'apophenia' into that artiste's statement somewhere. The fairies have been at work on that door to the right in the original pic too.

I like the plam tree.

Debra Morris said...

The scalar metaphor works splendidly for the second image. I see scaffold after scaffold reaching out from the roofs. Shadows of scaffolding cast on the red brick tower, amongst the velux glazing/solar panels and onwards to the middle building, finally stretching up and out from the Faraday monster.
The ginkgo is really an "under cover" ladder. The branches spaced precisely to support the stretch of the average on-campus alpiniste.

The second image is a parkour set while the first might be the early preparations of a circus troupe - barriers mature to ladders, shedding their red coats as the adult, vertical attitude is achieved.

Mike C. said...

All,

I thought there *had* to be a fancy word for "fear of walking under ladders", but apparently not, which is odd, given the number of preposterous words there are for much more minor phobias. I should probably ask Will Self...

Mike

Kent Wiley said...

I gather the Faraday monstrosity is still there. Looks like it's going to last longer than your term of employment, Mike. I hope you'll return to show it's demise.

Zouk Delors said...

Didn't you learn nuffink at Oxford, Mike? "Subambulation" is Latin, while "phobia" is Greek! Universitates canibus iunt. As your comment suggests, this post is what is popularly known as a Selfie.

Mike C. said...

Zouk,

Uh, right...

Care to coin an etymologically-correct word for "fear of walking under ladders"? Or would that be Etymological Correctness gone mad?

Mike

Zouk Delors said...

Sorry, but as you know I didn't do Greek either. Maybe one of your old Oxonian chums could help?