On the beach

Sydney April 2013 (2 images)

In a way the above photo reminds me of the closing scenes from The Planet of the Apes (1968). In the year 3978, astronaut Taylor has escaped the apes, and on horseback catches sight of something on the beach. Overcome with grief he falls from his horse and collapses on the ground, screaming to the sky. The camera pans out to show the remnants of the Statue of Liberty. He understands now that he has been on Earth the whole time, and the orangutan Dr Zaius was right. Humanity did destroy itself and apes became the dominant species. His final words…

“Maniacs!! You finally blew it all up!!!” Taylor screams in despair. “God damn you all to hell!”

I wonder what his reaction would have been if he’d seen this Rubik’s Cube instead. A scream of terror maybe. 🙂

Sydney March 2014

For decades a concrete block, a cover for a storm water drain has been in place on the beach. Sometime in the middle of the night in December 2008 two artists and a third “police look out” transformed the concrete block into this giant Rubik’s Cube. And it has remained ever since. In fact, this second photo shows that someone is actually maintaining it, repainting the chipped areas. I thought it was actually a piece of commissioned art for the beach. Then I read about it and my perspective changed. I went back and had a look. The top is a giant vent covered by a grate.

Both photos were taken in autumn, almost a year apart. It looks like nature with help from the local council has been building up the sand line. Note how the storm drain looks almost completely covered by sand in the second photo.