Trumpets on Wheels

I have discussed the sculptures in Holland Park before. In general, they are compelling and attractive specimens, and I always find myself drawn to them when I go there. Even in my park cleaning rounds I make sure to go by the ones that I particularly like, such as the one of Milo of Croton that I've already discussed. They are constant fixtures of my visits, keeping me on a path of familiarity in the midst of this unprecedented situation.

However, there is one sculpture that I still cannot understand. In fact, even the Internet seems to know precious little about it - its name eludes me. It's a bizarre construct; see the picture below. A huge wooden wheel stands next to an industrial cog, and on top of each is placed a gigantic brass horn, or a trumpet - something of that shape. Nobody is playing these instruments, and nobody is taking them anywhere. They just stand there, directing their gaping mouths towards the trees and buildings around them, and yet remaining silent.

What is it? Over the course of today, I thought about why anybody would build such a thing, and what message they would want to convey with it. Although I know that abstract art can be truly bizarre sometimes, this was a little too strange. Could it be that the trumpets were actually singing some sort of song, and that we passersby were expected to figure out the tune? Or were we supposed to be supplying the music that would resonate from them? The wheel and the cog have perplexed me even more, although I think that they might have something to do either with industry and human mechanisation, or with the passage of time.

Actually - hang on a minute. This has just given me an idea.

The trumpet is a musical instrument, and a musical instrument, as least as we know it, needs a human player. So one could say that the two huge horns are meant to represent human emotion, passion and ardour. Meanwhile, the cog and wheel really do highlight industrialisation, and our distancing from those thoughts and traits. So perhaps the sculpture is saying that, as humanity marches on and progresses towards ever greater heights of science and technology, we need to remember what beauty means, and sing a song that conveys that meaning to the wider world.

 Left: me contemplating the sculpture



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