February 7, 2005
the superstore of babel
This day has been spent driving from pillar to post trying to find materials to make the antenna and shed for Landscope. An unfortunate series of administrative mishaps resulted in orders disappearing into thin air and led to a tour of Northern Irelands B & Q warehouses. I've never been in one before but there is something extraordinary about being in such a huge space in which (seemingly) every possible item of iron mongery, building, plumbing, DIY etc is on display. Like a living exhibit of all the catalogs in the world.
We wondered the miles of aisles browsing for possible materials to build the antenna. Wood, copper and plastic piping, industrial shelving, weird wire frames for use in plastering . . . all are up for grabs.
My original conceptions for how to build it have been discarded as impossible. I'm envious of the mast in the photograph. No one seems to know what it's for but it is very beautiful, balanced on its point and rising upwards and outwards . . . in a V, like the Landscope antenna.
At the end of the day the plan is to suspend the V from a horizontal H sitting on top of a tall I. I'm sure there is a better way to build it . . . maybe an X on top of an I . . .
Posted by Jem Finer at February 7, 2005 7:01 PM