Going underground

November 16, 2009 by matthewtaylor
Filed under: Public policy 

A week of madness lies ahead with seven speeches on different topics including three on Wednesday alone! Anyone out there recruiting to the Trappists should think of approaching me on Friday, so sick will I then be of the sound of my own voice (presumably Trappists rely on direct mail rather than telephone sales for fund raising and recruitment).

The first speech is this afternoon. I am the last speaker in a Guardian Conference called Capital Ambition 09 – Transforming and Improving London Services. I’m not sure of what to be more nervous; the possibility that a demanding and well-informed audience will expect me to have brilliant ideas or that I will be speaking to a dwindling and speech-weary group of delegates.

I sometimes refer to the final session at all day conferences as the ‘wonder-time’, not because it is a moment of imagination and possibility but because most people in the room are surreptitiously looking at their watches and saying to themselves ‘if I leave now I wonder if I have time to get the early train home’.

But one thing I know I want to mention is the bringing of culture to the London Underground. This is great. I am sure there is a longer history to this and, of course, Harry Beck’s underground map and many stations are wonderful designs but I started to notice the attempt to civilise metro life with the Poetry on the Underground initiative which began in 1996. Then in 2000, building on a long tradition of commissioning artists and designers, Art on the Underground was launched. This year has also seen Jeremy Deller’s work with Piccadilly Line staff to produce a booklet of quotations for their use in station signs and announcements.

Oval station is on the Northern Line but when I arrived this morning classical music greeted me as I came in from the wind and rain, there was a quote of the day on the travel information notice board and there was even – which I think is new – a quotation scrolling along the train information indicator. And to put the icing on the cake the platform announcer – who stands among the passengers with his hand held microphone – was speaking clearly and with just the lightest touch of humour.  

I want to argue this afternoon that for a city to have a positive and useful identity it needs to be having a conversation with itself. This gives a place more meaning to its citizens, a stronger brand, and helps us understand the choices we and our leaders have to make.

The fantastic work of the team that is promoting art on the Underground shows what is possible even in the uncongenial context of overcrowded commuting. It contrasts with what feels like a vacuum in the broader debate and the capital’s aspirations and choices – as if the Olympics somehow relieves London of the need for direction or discourse.

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Comments

11 Comments on Going underground

  1. Jenny on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 1:52 pm

    2. Yay – fame for Oval, and their indefatigable ‘Thought of the Day’ contributor, whoever he/she is!

  2. Susmita on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 4:52 pm

    3. Wikipedia (the font of all knowledge, clearly) tells me: “However, contrary to popular belief,they do not take a vow of silence.[3] Trappist monks will generally only speak when necessary, and idle talk is strongly discouraged”

    So when I’m alone on Friday in the lectures office, I guess you won’t be talking to me :(

  3. Emma on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 7:34 pm

    4. In reference to the Art on the Underground project you mentioned, Jeremy Deller, said: “Maybe I’m just getting middle-aged but …I often wish announcements were more personal and reflected the realities and absurdities of living and working in a big city. I also think the travelling public enjoy some humour and unexpected insight during their journey. For me these short phrases and proverbs go to the heart of what it means to be alive in this world.”

    I love how truely dynamic London is and the Art on the Underground programme is fab. Another recent project was ‘Underground Heroes’, where artist David Blandy worked with challenged young people (who had been referred to the Fairbridge charity) and with the help of a production team, they reinvented themselves as comic book heroes. I chatted with a couple of the kids involved and they said that participating made them think about their own potential, rather than just the difficulties they were having. We’re in interesting times for thinking about the role of the arts in civic life.
    Good luck with your gauntlet of speeches this week – see you on silent Friday.

  4. steve johnson on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 7:59 pm

    5. matthew,

    thank you for creating the needed energy this afternoon, lifted the mood post chocolate cake, not sure a resurrected Michael jackson could have done better.

    On your challenge about the story of the Olympic games or lack of I think some of the great ground work taking place is lost in the typical British wish to glory in failure: our national teams are typical examples and the press doesn’t do positive but loves to focus on the downside. in other words why the Olympics will be the worst here than anywhere. Of course this will potentially change as we get nearer the date and then we may well see a rally call to truly make this a memorable Olympic

  5. matthewtaylor on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 11:58 am

    6. Sadly however my good mood is diluted by the way the Charring X branch train indicator at Kennington always says the train is 0 minutes away regardless of its actual ETA!

  6. matthewtaylor on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 11:58 am

    7. Shh

  7. matthewtaylor on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 12:00 pm

    8. Thanks. I am going to argue that Jeremy Deller should be nominated for our Albert Medal next year.

  8. matthewtaylor on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 12:03 pm

    9. Thanks Steve. I;m sure the Olympics will be great but there is the story about mass participation dn social inclusion? And who is doing the work to generate that story? I believe that soon to be released statistics will show that sporting participation in London (outside school) may even have fallen since we won the bid.

  9. What would you give a busker if you didn’t have any money? : Connected Communities on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 12:28 pm

    10. [...] money? November 17, 2009 by Jonathan RowsonFiled under: Connected Communities  Promoted by Mathew Taylor’s recent blog on the cultural life of the London Underground, I rememered an aspiring musician who told me that [...]

  10. Jonathan Rowson on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 12:59 pm

    11. Your blog made me think of the underground buskers who create cultural value, and I blogged on the idea of what we might give them other than loose change:
    http://connectedcommunities.rsablogs.org.uk/2009/11/17/what-would-you-give-a-busker-if-you-didnt-have-any-money/

  11. Emma on Wed, 18th Nov 2009 6:27 pm

    12. Yes! Obviously, I’d vote for Deller getting the Albert Medal. But if it’s arguing rather than voting that works – I’ll argue the with you. His work explores the dynamics of democratic cultural in fascinating, important and enjoyable ways.

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