There is something quite joyful about seeing objects used in imaginative and unexpected ways. I remember watching someone on TV a few years ago transforming a shopping trolley into a seat. Now admittedly it didn’t look that comfortable and I don’t think that shopping trolley seats have exactly caught on, but still, you have to admire the imagination and the ability to do it. Things repurposed in a surprising way always make me smile.
For some reason I have placed a 1970s rattan headboard on the wall behind my desk – it’s a bit random, but I do like the look of it. It’s not exactly a dramatic or skilful transformation though. More usefully, we have attached an old garden gate to a wall to use as a trellis, but I bet everyone who walks by is wondering what that gate’s doing on the wall. It’s good to keep your neighbours guessing.
The people at my local community arts centre are, unsurprisingly, full of imaginative ideas for repurposing everyday items that would otherwise go to waste. The café has an oat milk carton that’s been turned into a coffee cup carrier. Whether it’ll catch on, I don’t know, but I love the idea that someone even thought of doing it. Even the empty plastic milk cartons are saved so that they can go on to enjoy a new life as elephant sculptures.
On a larger scale, the UK is full of red public phone boxes that no-one knows what to do with. You might wonder what’s the point of them when people so rarely use payphones. However, they are iconic and much loved. And sometimes people actually use them to make phone calls. I recently read about a village that is determined to save their only working phone box. Only nine phone calls were made in it last year and British Telecom was planning to disconnect the phone. The villagers immediately rallied round and 30 local residents formed an orderly (and, it must be said, elderly) queue to make a call and save their kiosk.
Some of the old phone boxes have been sadly neglected, but many are being repurposed in all sorts of imaginative ways. I have seen them housing defibrillators, community libraries and art installations. Some are being sold to people with a quirky taste in garden ornaments. Apparently, Elton John has a red telephone kiosk in his garden with a statue of Aphrodite inside, which must be a unique experience for her. He also has a red post box in his extensive grounds. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a black London taxi lurking in the shrubbery.
Those old red phone boxes are also loved by tourists. I was in London recently and was surprised to see a long queue of people waiting at a kiosk, not to make a phone call, but to take a selfie with the phone box and Big Ben in the background. People might not use payphones much anymore, but those bright red kiosks have become national icons. A bit like Elton John.
I like taking pictures of red phone boxes!
They’re so photogenic. Even better when Aphrodite’s inside.