Me and this elephant are well acquainted, depending on my route to the Jubilee line I can walk pass it once or twice a day. It guards the top of the escalators in the Waterloo Station Jubilee line ticket hall. It's designed by Kendra Haste, who also supplied the thirteen galvanised wire animal sculptures dotted around the Tower of London too. I like the fact that the lighting by the feet give it a orange-y glow and today there is a semi-deflated balloon above its head, caught in the curves of the roof harks back to a long forgotten circus.
I'm rather fond of this elephant and its cousin at the Tower of London. The station pachyderm seems more incongruous, than the one guarded by ravens. The Tower ones are a reminder that a zoo once was housed within the stone walls but the Waterloo one has less of an obvious legacy. I think there was a convenient spot to fill with a piece of art and handily this location is safely out of the reach of curious hands of the passersby. Because those little fingers can cause untold damage. Perhaps some strange ritual would have sprung up if the elephant hadn't been so elusive, stroking the truck to encourage timeliness on the Jubilee line perchance? Or maybe we would have started leaving offerings to the Hindu God Ganesh willing the Thameslink London Bridge rebuilding project could move on much quicker so the dreadful Jubilee line congestion and hideous "customer management system" can be alleviated. We can wish!
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