To paint over one dead animal may be regarded as a misfortune...
Jenny Diski · Roadkill Painting
Today, as if there wasn't enough sadness in the world, the Guardian gives us more to shake our heads about. Has the dignity of the dead hedgehog fallen foul of efficiency accountants? Apparently, the taking-away-roadkill department didn't turn up in time, so the road painters painted on according to schedule. Even penguins (who I haven't mentioned nearly recently enough) go round a static object, rather than over it. A spokesman for Hartlepool borough council said, clearly with a degree of satisfaction and relief: 'This is obviously an unfortunate incident, but it was the only one reported during the massive project.' But all may not be what it seems.
In July the BBC reported something similar: slightly better, slightly worse, depending on how you look at it, though, of course, it's of no concern to the dead creatures involved. Questions avalanche. Does the painting around rather than over show more respect for nature? Or a greater respect for badgers than hedgehogs? Or are these two incidents not a statistically weird coincidence at all? Are both the work of guerilla anti-health-and-safety activists out to shame a world where road painters are not allowed to move roadkill except by special training and licence? The fact that the Guardian report is also in the Mail suggests that this may well be the answer.
But perhaps we are witnessing a new real-world meme: something along the lines of the crop circle artists but with road traffic accidents as their canvas – this does not bode well if taken too far. Or it might tell us that painting long lines (double yellow or single white) over miles of roads is so boring and the quest for fame so great that people have taken to bringing dead hedgehogs and badgers to work with them to liven things up a bit and get the papers round. This, too, if taken further and into other boring areas of life, may not be pleasant.
Comments
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13 August 2010
at
1:22pm
Joe Morison
says:
Maybe it's health and safety (gone mad) and dead animals can only be moved by trained operatives using the correct equipment.
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14 August 2010
at
11:15am
outofdate
says:
Don't blame the painter. I'm moving house at the moment and know to my cost (and I mean considerable expense) that his concentration is total. Nothing can blur his focus on the immediate task in hand, not the carpet on which he's dribbling, not the silk lampshades he's generously slathering with emulsion, nothing. Hitler of course was a painter: I'm just saying, total.
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15 August 2010
at
2:55pm
Geoff Roberts
says:
@
outofdate
Why didn't you cover up the drapes before he started work? You can't blame him for mess can? By the way, Hitler painted naive, boring watercolours, so he hardly dropped paint on anybody's valuable furnishings. Or isn't that the point you wanted to make?
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17 August 2010
at
12:57pm
outofdate
says:
@
Geoff Roberts
[sigh]
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14 August 2010
at
11:22am
Martin
says:
It's like the dustmen. You and I - pimply youth, pregnant woman, pensioner, one and all - must push our dustbins outside for collection, but the burly dustmen (sorry, trained operatives) can't and won't move them if they are too heavy.
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1 September 2010
at
6:04pm
Geoff Roberts
says:
Just read your piece on noise, or NOISE as I describe it. Just brilliant. Thank you for speaking out for all of us who hate NOISE.
Read moreIf I see some roadkill, I might pull over and drag the carcass onto the verge. But if a road painter were to pass by instead, he'd avert his eyes and stick to his lines because, after all it might harbour vermin, he might strain his back or be knocked down by a speeding H&S officer. And then where would the council be?