Ghostly graffiti on a utility pipe, midtown Manhattan.

Today, a design client sent me a batch of stock photos to use in a project. I clicked through the images: smiling faces, fine folks from all walks of life picnicking in harmony, a stunning blonde in a wheelchair, et cetera. Then I stumbled on this one. At first it appeared to be just another photo of a perfect family immersed in rapturous joy, but then I noticed demon boy in Daddy’s loving arms. This abominable creature is not only utterly evil but downright meddlesome. That’s what gets me. There he is, aiming his glare of menacing gloom directly at me. Rubbing his hands together with ire. Not exactly appropriate material for a bank brochure. I put in on the cover anyway.

This bizarre public sculpture is ‘The Traffic Light Tree’ by Pierre Vivant, and it is located near the Canary Wharf tube stop in London. It is in the middle of a ’roundabout’ (traffic circle) but apparently it doesn’t cause a ten-car pile-up every five minutes, as I might’ve guessed. It looks really eerie blinking in the darkness at night.