It's no mean feat for a council to spend significant sums of money restoring a major building thus putting the finishing touches on a section of the city that represents art and culture only to dump this right in the middle of it.
Where do we start? The ostentatious advertising? The plastic backdrop? The ever present bloody giant telly? Or perhaps the reported (I haven't been myself yet) amplified sea sounds which sound more like an aircraft taking off?
I'm prepared to accept that you could have a beach in a city centre and it not be awful. There's nothing intrinsically offensive about sand after all. But this isn't it.
All said, though there's something quite impressive here. That you can take something so valuable and lovely and completely fuck it up in one fell swoop. The dedication and determination to see a bad idea through to its completion deserves some kind of recognition. So well done on that front Whitby.
Where do we start? The ostentatious advertising? The plastic backdrop? The ever present bloody giant telly? Or perhaps the reported (I haven't been myself yet) amplified sea sounds which sound more like an aircraft taking off?
I'm prepared to accept that you could have a beach in a city centre and it not be awful. There's nothing intrinsically offensive about sand after all. But this isn't it.
All said, though there's something quite impressive here. That you can take something so valuable and lovely and completely fuck it up in one fell swoop. The dedication and determination to see a bad idea through to its completion deserves some kind of recognition. So well done on that front Whitby.
5 Comments:
Not a fan then, Pete? ;)
Don't worry, it'll all be gone by September - before the Town Hall reopens.
On the logo front, I don't find the sponsored nature of beach anywhere near out of place as that of the Santa's grotto, or the Christmas lights - the blue isn't a good look tho'.
An English beach will always be subject to passing fits of weather, regardless of how sunny the backdrop.
I passed by today during one of the less rainy bits and was a bit amused to see the solitary 'lifeguard' in a jacket overseeing an arena full of well-soaked sand and not much else. If I'd had a camera it would have made a forlorn but touching scene. I was almost tempted to take off my shoes and pretend that I was in Margate. Glasto, it ain't. Blighty it is.
bounder: crass commercialism and Christmas go together like peaches and cream. A beach, however, is a long expanse of sand looking out into the nothingness of sea.
It's mildly disconcerting that what we already have in these squares isn't considered good enough for the city. Chamberlain Square is a lovely place as it is. It doesn't need a novelty beach and a big fucking telly. And as for slapping it all in front of a newly unveiled restoration project...
"A beach, however, is a long expanse of sand looking out into the nothingness of sea."
And donkeys of course - where are the donkeys?
I passed by this today - it is AWFUL! The noise is horrendous, way too loud. I don't think they've ever been to the seaside, never mind heard one of those relaxation tapes where the sound of the sea makes you feel sleepy. Mind you, I've never liked the giant tv thingy.
By the way, the exhibitions in the Gas Hall and water Hall (which I was heading for) were excellent, as is the new Choi Jeong Hwaat exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. (Not Birmingham, I know, but worth a visit on a wet Saturday).
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