Spike Air 'Do
If the street is a canvas, spoilt by the taggers but enhanced by artists, what place is there for the accidental? In the Rue de Chantilly, a flash of sunlight catches my eye. This lightning glint, an accident of angles and directions, leads my eyes towards a spherical, spiky object attached to a drainpipe.
The object is clearly positioned there to prevent invaders, a modern-day equivilent of the hidden spikes that protected medieval castles. Opportunistic thieves will not attempt to shin up this drainpipe to the first-floor window-ledge, whilst escaping robbers will have to find another means of exiting the building in a hurry. Beyond the intrinsic purpose of the object though, or perhaps because of it, the item takes on another significance.
Such protective features are not rare in Paris, but this one is different due to its size and aesthetic qualities.
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