Comments on: Minimal Concrete City for Sale: Serious Interested Parties Only!

By: Eladó egy falatnyi hidegháború | miafene

Eladó egy falatnyi hidegháború | miafene — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:54:16 +0000

[...] néz ki a hely, annyira sok mindenre lehetne felhasználni. Forrásunk, a Ballardian például tucatnyi civil csoportot felsorol, akiknek kiosztana egy-egy emeletet a bunkerből. Aztán lehet ilyesmiből búvároknak szánt [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:47:24 +0000

Can anyone say ASBESTOS!!!! Have fun cleaning all of that out.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:10:05 +0000

Mark, what a fascinating website that is — many thanks for the link.

By: mark

mark — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:47:48 +0000

Hello, have a look for ’subterranea britannica’ or ‘mike catford’. you probably know this already but, this gives quite a comprehensive list of all the underground missile and bunker sites around the country, and you can do a postcode search for your nearest! I found this really useful searching for buildings to draw/paint.

By: John Coulthart

John Coulthart — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:20:36 +0000

“Which Ballard story is this a reference to?”

It should probably be mysterious ideograms à la The Voices of Time. But I was half-thinking of Sam Scoggins’ Unlimited Dream Company film which has someone in a ragged flying suit drawing a huge spiral on a beach. As it happens I flicked past a picture of Smithson’s Spiral Jetty when looking for a Heizer reference.

Thanks to Google Maps we can now spy on Heizer’s work even though we’re not allowed to visit it:

http://tinyurl.com/2heknl

By: Bosse de Nage

Bosse de Nage — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:02:58 +0000

My only regret would be that inhabiting such a space might make reading Ballard superfluous.

By: Lyle Hopwood

Lyle Hopwood — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:24:42 +0000

20th Century Castles. An idea whose time has come – and gone. I’m in. How much money down again?

By: Rick McGrath

Rick McGrath — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:02:11 +0000

The spirals might refer to the famous “Spiral Jetty” by Robert Smithson. It’s a gigantic earthen coil which uncurls counterclockwise into the Great Salt Lake, presently discoloured with red algae. Surreal. Smithson apparently was inspired by Ballard to create the piece.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:42:33 +0000

it’s alright tim — i’m cavorting with plastic mannequins. you come up smelling of roses in comparison.

By: Newbie

Newbie — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:34:37 +0000

“When it’s finished (2010 supposedly) he should employ somebody to wander round the place in a ruined pilot’s outfit, drawing spirals in the desert sand.”

Which Ballard story is this a reference to?

By: John Coulthart

John Coulthart — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:47:39 +0000

Interesting watching the products of the Cold War go the way of the Martello tower and the WW2 pillbox. The silos remind me of Michael Heizer's vast (and still unfinished) City art project/sculpture/obsession which is certainly a match for the idée fixes of some of Ballard's characters. When it's finished (2010 supposedly) he should employ somebody to wander round the place in a ruined pilot's outfit, drawing spirals in the desert sand.

By: Rick McGrath

Rick McGrath — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:10:28 +0000

Tempting, tempting… considering the zillions they must have cost to build, $1.5 million seems rather cheap, considering all you get. Now, where to find a missle?

By: Tim Chapman

Tim Chapman — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:22:33 +0000

‘from where he could launch a campaign to vigorously oppose its re-development’
Bah, you make me sound like some kind of reactionary curmudgeon, Simon! A curmudgeon perhaps, a reactionary never.

Anyway, I couldn’t possibly move that far from Yorkshire. But if Fylingdales ever came on the market…