ABSTRACT

This article describes some of the ways in which Melbourne residents responded to the overnight installation of rough one-metre-cubed grey bollards in the city’s CBD following the 2017 vehicle attacks targeting pedestrians. We contend that the purpose of the bollards as protection from those wanting to harm “us” has resulted in the normalisation of the threat of terrorism, and its integration as an aesthetic part of Melbourne’s urbanscape. Reflection on a collection of visual examples of concrete bollard decoration, activism, humour, art and other uses shows popular re-appropriation, taking back these visible reminders of fear and danger. Katz’s idea of banal terrorism is reframed here to acknowledge the agentic power of culture in these everyday uses in Melbourne’s CBD. The mix of uses—political, aesthetic, venial—reflects proactive engagement contrasting with the United States’ focus on the pervasiveness of bollards as correlates of terror. These bollards provide canvases for activism and street art; they enable sitting/leaning/waiting, even serving as cigarette receptacles.

摘要

本文描述了墨尔本居民在 2017 年针对行人的车辆袭击事件后，墨尔本居民对在该​​市 CBD 隔夜安装粗略的一米立方灰色护柱的反应的一些方式。我们认为，护柱的目的是保护那些想要伤害“我们”的人，这导致了恐怖主义威胁的正常化，并将其整合为墨尔本城市景观的美学部分。对混凝土护柱装饰、激进主义、幽默、艺术和其他用途的一系列视觉例子的反思表明了流行的重新挪用，收回了这些对恐惧和危险的可见提醒。卡茨的平庸恐怖主义思想这里重新定义了文化在墨尔本中央商务区这些日常用途中的作用力。混合使用——政治、美学、温和——反映了积极的参与，与美国将护柱的普遍性视为恐怖的关联物形成鲜明对比。这些护柱为激进主义和街头艺术提供了画布；它们可以坐/靠在/等待，甚至可以用作香烟容器。