Oh–and one more thing: while The Orbit may technically qualify as part of “the media”, please don’t reduce us to ash just yet. If it stops us in our tracks–possibly with oncoming travel barreling forward–makes us wonder, and gives the noodle a twist, well, you’re all right by us. ![]() Regardless, we’ll re-issue that old Orbit saw and simply say, House of Hades–who- or whatever you are–we’re glad somebody’s still out there carving wacky words, spoons, and lady legs into street decoration and we’re glad you dropped enough morsels in downtown Pittsburgh for us to chew on for a while. Of course, we probably don’t have the volume of Philly traffic they’re comparing them to, but it’s still impressive. The pair on Boulevard remains nearly perfect five (or more) years on. claims the tiles started appearing in Buffalo some time in the oughts and “look nice, but don’t last long”. into or 800 number to call for a free brochure. ![]() Is it the message or the maker? As these things go, there’s no P.O. Information on this “House of Hades” is scant. This may or may not be accurate to the time of installation, but that’s around when we first remember tripping across them. But in fact these messages go back well before Steve Bannon’s elevation to the White House. The ominous warning One man versus American media in society certainly comes off as incredibly timely given the current political climate. Red dots mark the former locations of eight Toynbee tiles in downtown Pittsburgh–now all are gone. What’s clear, though, is that these House of Hades tiles have been left by a different crew than the person Resurrect Dead researcher/filmmaker Steve Weinik calls The Toynbee Tiler (“TTT”). Whether they’re the work of a copycat, tributes to the original, or just plain doing their own thing (using the same visual language), is a matter of some debate. of the Allies (photographed here, but not currently on ’s map) aren’t strictly “Toynbee”. Second, the pair of tiles that arrived on Blvd. Under Orbit due diligence, our bicycle- and sidewalk-based researchers criss-crossed downtown and couldn’t locate a single extant tile from this set. The all-things-Toynbee site has a Google map that includes pinpoints for eight different tiles that used to exist on Smithfield, Forbes, Oliver, and Commonweath Place. We chronicled a bunch of these in our stories on The Toynbee Tiles of Smithfield Street and its follow-up Orbit obit to The Last Toynbee Tile on Smithfield Street a year later. For one thing, pretty much every legitimate Toynbee tile in downtown Pittsburgh has vanished from this earth. of the Allies at Wood St., Downtownīut…not so fast. With all the available, naked pavement out there, how do two road tiles lie nearly right on top of each other? Can’t we all get along! That said, it sure is curious that the two ended up where they did. Aside from the medium itself, it just has none of the tell-tale style elements or apocalyptic messaging. It’s probably safe to say this nightscape is not the work of either the Toynbee or House of Hades folks. A crescent moon hangs overhead against the star-speckled black sky. This one, vertical in composition with rounded corners, features a night scene in one-point perspective of a car driving toward a stylized big city skyline. ![]() The most unusual thing about #4, though, has to be that it’s also immediately abutting/overlapping yet another linoleum street tile of an entirely different mood and design. The Toynbee half of it contains what we’ve come to recognize as a naked lady’s shapely gam across the top (there was probably a right leg to go with this left, but it’s gone now), plus some of the familiar big headline text: House of Hades / The resurrection of Toynbee’s idea in society ‘2012. It also contains an extra stanza in relative fine print with the disturbing message I must work harder to punish these butchers for all that they’ve done. Tile #4 is a little more difficult to parse. House of Hades tile #3, Smithfield Street at First Ave.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |