constructivism

Constructivism is a modern art movement that originated in Russia in the early days of the Bolshevik Revolution, but I’ve appropriated the term to describe a construction site that we ride past on our way home after cycling ‘out west’. Every time we rode past it, I couldn’t help but notice the abstract images of birds on the hoardings enclosing the site:

Both these photos were taken looking in the opposite direction to our direction of travel. What you see on the right in each photo is a dedicated cycle track, which means that the only hazard we encounter here is pedestrians, who should be walking on the pavement (sidewalk) but aren’t.

A few days ago, I happened to glance to my right as we passed the end of this hoarding and noticed that there were more images along the side of the site, so I resolved to take a closer look on foot (after taking photos of the artwork that I described in Jockeying for Position: Update).

It took me quite a while to locate the site, because although I know my way around the cycle track network, nothing looks the same when you’re on foot. This is what I’d seen looking down the side of the site:

The image partially obscured by the parked car contains some interesting information:

The construction company and the Architectural Services Department are namechecked at the top of the poster, which also proclaims that they are building a community health centre with social welfare facilities on this site. The image appears to be a reproduction of the winning entry in a colouring-in competition for local schoolchildren, although whether it influenced the colours of the birds represented on the hoarding is unclear.

As I walked alongside the site, I gradually became aware that each avian image is not unique, which was slightly disappointing. There are in fact six different images, which repeat in exactly the same sequence around the entire site:

This is a view of the corner of the site:

When I’d taken all the photos I wanted here, it was time to head back home, and the most convenient route meant crossing the expressway and railway by a path that runs alongside a busy road. I took the final photo from this path:

Although I wouldn’t describe the artwork here as ‘impressive’, it’s certainly better than a bland wall of blank hoardings. I wonder what local residents think. The current situation is an improvement on last year, when piledriving on the site created a seismic shock every few seconds. I know this because there is also a cycle track running parallel to the path, and it used to be part of our route home after cycling ‘out west’. You could feel these shocks even from the other side of the road.

However, negotiating this section was always something of a nightmare. The path leads to the main entrance to Sheung Shui MTR station, and it is always thronged with people walking to or from the station from the residential areas west of the railway line. People walking in the same direction as we were cycling would step into the cycle track to overtake slower walkers, invariably without checking whether it was safe to do so! To try to mitigate this behaviour, I would ring my bell nonstop, but it was an extremely nerve-racking experience every time. Needless to say, I never spotted any of the images that I’ve documented here, because there was never an opportunity to look around. The alternative route that we now use may be quite a bit longer, but that isn’t a problem. At least I can safely look around from time to time.