Wednesday 3 February 2010

Illuminating snow, from beneath.

Doesn't it make you cross to see public money being wasted? Last summer saw the makeover of Al. Ujazdowskie, with new pavements, cycle path and greenery. At night, the trees are lit up by uplighters mounted beneath the lawn. But what have we here? We've had snow on the ground (with a brief respite over Christmas) since mid-December, and yet these lights are still switched on every night - despite being covered by ten inches of snow! Why?

The stretch of Al. Ujazdowskie is over half a kilometre long,with more than fifty trees along it, each with four lights underneath it. Switched on for 16 hours a day. Gauge the power output (heat and light)of each lightbulb from the close-up below.

"I kto za to płaci? Pani płaci, Pan płaci. Społeczeństwo."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It proves the maxim that "people are not (generally) blind but they can't see"

I 'see' it every day with trees ready to fall across phone and power lines, road signs that were put up during road construction that have never been removed showing detours that no longer exist etc.

Neighbour said...

Well, maybe they could have switched it off.
But then, how would you take so nice and interesting photos, Michael?
I didn't know abot such nice looking illumination, despite my ride Al. Ujazdowskie every 2-3 weeks.

Luuuuzik, sometimes you need to waste a penny to make your life brighter :-)

Best regards,

Ryszard Wasilewski said...

This is surely the most cutting-edge and ground-breaking (sic, I might add) art installation in the EU. You will miss the snow, when it finally melts, and the lamps merely illuminate the poor trees.