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This intervention by Ann Rapstoff, Cally Trench and Philip Lee celebrates zebra crossings and their impact on human relations. Philip was painted by Cally in broad horizontal black-and-white stripes (12 inches wide, as on a belisha beacon) in the open air. He then promenaded four times around a roundabout in Beaconsfield that has three zebra crossings. The intervention was photographed by Ann Rapstoff and by Cally Trench, and filmed by Alex Dewart. |
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Cally Trench: Zebra crossings are a British invention and were introduced in 1949. Belisha beacons came earlier; they were introduced in 1934 by the then Minister for Transport Leslie Hore Belisha. Unlike pedestrian crossings involving traffic lights, zebra crossings require drivers and pedestrians to engage in a social contract with each other and to recognise each other's humanity. When drivers stop, pedestrians usually acknowledge them with a little wave, nod or smile. Ann Rapstoff: The zebra crossing is characterised by parallel black/unpainted lines and white lines, similar to that of a zebra. These stripes are usually 40 to 60 centimetres' (16 inches to 2 feet) wide. Our streets are usually built to segregate pedestrians from vehicle users; the zebra crossing is a clearly delineated space in which the pedestrian can move freely without being confined to pavements and footpaths. The zebra crossing is a place of negotiation between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle users. It is an example of a shared space, which relies on eye contact and interaction for its effectiveness. Philip Lee: For me In Praise of Zebra Crossings was about doing my first street intervention, and was an anxious time as a result. In the event I need not have worried. It went very smoothly and the others didn't run off and abandon me when someone started to have a go at us or when the police arrived. Well, as it happened, everyone who saw the performance was very positive, approached us smiling, and clearly didn't call the police because they never arrived. I wonder whether I am a little disappointed that the police didn't come because it may have made for some interesting photographs, video footage and a more exciting intervention. While walking round the roundabout there were a number of highlights: I will always remember the expression on the face of one driver as he waited to let me pass: wide-eyed, bemused, disbelieving. By the time of my second or third circuit there were people waiting for me to come along the path; obviously they had seen what was going on and thought that they would lie in wait in order to take their photographs. As I came around a building three young girls were blocking my route. Smiling and respectfully they took their photographs as I walked around them on my way to the next crossing. At a similar point in my circuit, it was me who surprised a mother with a pushchair and children, as I suddenly appeared from around the side of a building. She was taken aback as she struggled with her encumbrances but was clearly amused by our encounter. At the end of my last circuit a silver van man who nearly drove into me said that he was sorry mate - he hadn't notice me, and roared with laughter. He got the point I think. His relationship with zebra crossings and driving was not entirely as defined by th e Highway Code. He followed me slowly as I walked around the roundabout, incidentally holding up a patient queue of cars, as he tried to take a photograph of me with his mobile phone. I think he yelled his approval as he motored off but I may have been mistaken. I have come to embrace the need that people have to record in images anything they see that is extraordinary. I admit to the urge to do the same whenever I see anything body-oriented in the street. In fact I am disappointed when people don't want to take photographs. Mobile phone photography is approval, interest, recording a memory, and it implies that they will be talking about what they have seen with others. |
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