SCHOOL OF SAATCHI brought Hastings to the country’s art buffs via BBC2. Or you might have seen the work in progress last July, when three teams of youngsters were set the task of mocking up a piece of Public Art on our seafront as part of an Apprentice-type series of films.
The uninhabited animal enclosure and cheap Star Trek-style mock-rock on the islands on the boating lake, apparently intended to convey the let-down of a stereotypical wet day at the British seaside, was distinctly underwhelming: predictably it was Saatchi’s favourite. The reflective “unidentified floating object” could have looked stunning scaled up a bit and actually floating at the Harbour Arm. And the black net Net Huts (pictured) were delicate and witty, a sort of ghost presence representing two old huts that perished by fire: these came top of the public poll with a 92% approval.
For anyone who might have thought Hastings would be flattered by the attention, this programme was the let-down. Firstly, the thing was just an exercise (or maybe a publicity exercise) with no intention of bringing any of the work to fruition. Neither the Public Arts officer Michael Hambridge (see below) nor Penny Precious was notified or invited to comment.
But worse, none of these people seemed to know a thing about Hastings apart from it being at the seaside, thus enabling it to be the butt of a snobbish conceptual joke as Mayor Maureen, complete with chain, was trotted out at intervals to demonstrate our collective ignorance.
Even Jake and Dinos could have told them otherwise.
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