Morons In Our Midst

It is most unusual for me to comment about anything to do with local government, most of which bring a new dimension to the meaning of incompetence. Yet that is the way it has been since before I was born, and I have come to the sad conclusion that you can’t fight City Hall. You can, however, throw your hands up in despair when they go and do something like this.

The Comedy Carpet – created by visual artist Gordon Young – is the most wonderful piece of public art, celebrating over a thousand comedians and their work. It’s absolutely huge, containing over 160,000 granite letters set into concrete, it’s beautiful, and it cost £2.6m (worth every penny). The Comedy Carpet not only pays homage to all those people who have made the nation laugh, it is also used as a stage for popular entertainment, and is a world-class piece of art.

Less than five months after its installation, some idiots at Blackpool Council decided it needed to be moved (for some ridiculous reason of health and safety of course), and the contractors have merrily smashed some of it up. They’ve even destroyed the dedication stone.

I realise that people can be a bit funny about art (no pun intended) but I just cannot conceive of anyone who would be stupid enough to take a sledgehammer to something so beautiful. Perhaps I’m just getting old.

> Visit Website

Share This Post