The Hippie/Artist/Cartoonist/Illustrator/Social Commentator R. Crumb keeps an extensive library of source material containing hundreds of photographs of telephone poles, overhead wires and electrical transformers. These things are part of systems working in the background of our lives, transporting unseen energy and silent communications to and fro. Because of that background role these forces don’t seem to impact our daily lives in any immediate way, so we simple dismiss or remove them from our consciousness and over time they become invisible. Crumb accurately concluded that including the things, which most people visually edit from their reality, added authenticity and believability to his drawings.
Of all the things that we have chosen to unconsciously ignore in the urban environment there are none more loyal or steadfast than the legions of fire fighting minions that wait patiently on every street corner.
They are woefully ignored and I would go as far as to suggest that, even though we are literally surrounded by these conscientious little lifesavers, most people would be hard-pressed to even tell you what colors they are painted or if they come in more then one style.
Are they offended? No, they quietly hide in plain sight, ever ready, just longing to remove their cloak of invisibility and be called into action.
Spigots
Let’s not forget the lowly spigot. The downtown buildings are riddled with every manner of faucet, fitting, pipe, coupling and drain you can imagine. These things, having none of the cartoonish charm of their fire hydrant buddies, are truly invisible.
Nonetheless, I’m certain that their hidden role in the urban landscape is critical, probably.
