Arresting communication
Yesterday morning I was walking along the seafront on Swanage, when I came across the old Pierhead building – built by Canadian troops awaiting demobilisation at the end of the Second World War. Over the years it has fallen into disrepair, and in June 2007 two local artists decided to do something about it. Nina Camplin and Antonia Phillips decided to draw attention to the building’s plight the best way they could – with their paintbrushes. Essentially, their message to the local authorities was this: if you fail to invest in the care of the building – look what will be come of it. They have done this through a series of murals painted directly onto the building itself. (CLICK on each for a larger image).
In the center is the ‘main event’ – a full scale depiction of the state into which the building will fall without care and investment:
To the right, in a homage to Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’, is a very different image, showing how things might have been :
And finally, in a glorious twist of irony, there are words which I spotted only when focusing on the central image
through my camera:
This is clever, arresting, provocative communication, from which many professionals can learn. The fact that it remains unscathed in a seaside town where graffiti is rife is testament to the affection and esteem in which it is held. Furthermore, the little touches such as the Hopper allusion and the words above insure that it does not take itself too seriously. Those of us who communicate with spoken or written words so often end up sounding pompous or ridiculous when angry. Camplin and Philips show us here that it need not be that way.
If you feel angry, or passionate, about something today,before you pick up the phone or turn to the keyboard, ask yourself how you could communicate with just enough winsomeness to make the pill go down.
