England: St Martin-in-the-Fields, London

Zombies. April 2012

One of my favorite orchestras is the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, so the church's prominent position on Trafalgar Square [see: Trafalgar Square, London] aside, I always associated it with music and not much else. I had passed by it on earlier visits to London with AFVdR because there was a great pub nearby, Halfway to Heaven. When Brian was with us and we were walking around the London tourist sites, I noted an "art installation" on the portico of the church. I have no idea what the wooden figures represented, but the US was at its peak of "Zombie Fever" with the Walking Dead being a major hit.

I dubbed the statues, the "Zombies of St Martin-in-the-Fields".

Although funny, one thing in Europe (also in the US, but less) is the persistence of current "art" at famous and venerable places. When it sends a strong, clear political message, I understand. When it is just "thought provoking art", then I wish the work would "provoke" elsewhere. Why take something that has survived for centuries (even millennia depending where) and festoon it with something temporary (and likely without much meaning)? I won't say it is disrespectful - it's not that. As a visitor I feel it was my "right" to see something as portrayed originally. I traveled and spent money to see a place that has NOT been temporarily modified by dubious "art".

I laughed at the statues, but not at St Martins on Trafalgar Square, please. London has heaps of other churches that people pass by...