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On the 29th December
2002, Brighton's
West Pier partially
collapsed into the
sea amidst conditions
which the Sussex
Police imaginatively
described as "wet
and windy".
The pier had been
abandoned since 1975
amidst fears that
it would collapse
and is due for major
redevelopment this
year. Since then
it has stood still,
gradually being eroded
and corroded, the
only recent change
being when its neon
light was fixed so
that in the night
sky "WEST PIE"
became "WEST
PIER".
view
larger
The pier has always
occupied an unusual
space in Brighton,
being both a reminder
of the prestige and
glamour of the Victorian
seaside resort, and
of the subsequent
post-war gloom that
is prevalent in Graham
Greene's 'Brighton
Rock'. On the beach
it is physically
separated from the
promenade, a frail
footbridge being
the only contact
between the deck
and the rest of Brighton.
Facing it is an array
of high-rise buildings,
the great sea-front
hotels and modern
housing developments.
To the east stands
(in what seems like
two dimensions) the
gaudy Palace Pier
(also damaged recently
in a fire).
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larger
And so what is its
attraction to artists,
photographers, writers
and the general public
alike? Apart from
being a reminder
of the temporality
of even our greatest
achievements and
of the arrogance
in the assumption
that we can tame
the earth, I hazard
a guess that it provides
an emotional non-space
outside of the psychotic,
hysterical and horizontal
here and now. Thanks
to the absence of
all that represents
the present and the
lack of a physical
connection with the
present, the pier
is a place in which
the imagination can
roam about freely-
it does not ask anything
from the observer.
view
larger
The pier is an object
removed from time
that provides a window
onto another world,
a world that we can
only imagine now.
And of course, that
world only exists
inside our own imaginations.
The pier turns us
inwards and away
from the incoming
torrent of value-loaded
data. In this sense
it can seem that
the pier is speaking
to us directly, we
identify with its
abandonement, as
with all great derelicts,
and so can share
with it our secrets
and our fears. The
rest of the world
will not stop to
turn its head but
the pier sits, waits
and does not judge.
It is almost a shame
that it will be rebuilt-
it can only ever
be a veneer of itself.
But onwards with
progress!
damian@greenhouse-design.co.uk
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damian@greenhouse-design.co.uk
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