Ceci n'est pas Guernica

Ceci n'est pas Guernica

Word is being received at GT that the notice in the Express Advocate posted on the Back Page art blog is causing some annoyance. It seems that people who have been working hard to make improvements in the civic centre consider it too negative and that it does not acknowledge their efforts.

I am constantly being surprised and pleased to discover so many individuals passionately concerned about the current situation and wanting to do something about bringing new life to Gosford.

However, given their commitment, and the wealth of ideas they have formed, I am constantly surprised that things are still as they are. Perhaps we need to consider what is preventing the good ideas out there from being realised, as well as how the insights that citizens have can be brought into the public area without the frustration of feeling that consultation processes are a form of massaging compliance.
These same people, as well as those who have become cynical with time, have described Gosford in terms of the notice in the Express Advocate, which seems to me to be more strategically provocative than negative.

One cannot deny the validity of the state of affairs described, which is not to deny the work of those seeking to make improvements, or the positive attributes, not stated, which are the reason why many are working in their own ways to fulfill Gosford’s great potential.

Gosford’s main street is lined with Real Estate Agent’s offices. It is perhaps not surprising that the notice in the Advocate parodied the form of the property developer’s spiel.

Perhaps when Picasso painted ‘Guernica’ he should have depicted the “suitability for development” of house sites cleared by bombing.