THE SEVEN NOSES OF SOHO

The Seven Noses of Soho is a creative installation found on various buildings in London’s Soho area. The noses are made of plaster of Paris and are reproductions of the artist’s nose, which project from walls in an odd and unanticipated way.

The noses were produced in 1997 by Hackney artist Rick Buckley. Around thirty-five were attached to buildings such as the Tate Britain and The National Gallery but by 2011, only ten had survived.

So why are they there? Around the time surveillance cameras were drawing a lot of criticism from people all over the UK and especially London. Many people were taking offence at it and saw it as a violation of their liberty. And massive step nearer to a Big Brother state. Buckley staged a protest himself against the placing of the hundreds of CCTV cameras that were being erected in the streets of London.

Whereas some of us might choose to protest with acts of vandalism. Rick Buckley went for a subtler and humorous approach. So, the idea of The Seven Noses of Soho was born. One thing that inspired Buckley was the artists and writers who did these random, unlawful actions. I guess we call it performance art today. He also wanted to see if he could get away with it without being revealed.

Each nose would be made with plaster of Paris from a mould of his own. Buckley would then seek a spot before using glue to fix the nose to the wall. After it had set, he then would take a photograph.

Some were detected within hours, but some noses remain in Soho today, in Covent Garden piazza, Bateman Street, Dean Street, Denmark Street, and one near the Trocadero. Also, two noses survive at the Hayward Gallery and on a South Bank.

He painted the noses to match the walls they were affixed to and did not publicise his project, curious to see if he could carry out his plan without being found out, and hoped the unnoticed noses would simply become part of the structures themselves.

Most noses were found quickly and taken down, but for the ones that remained, he accomplished his goa’ but with some unintended consequences. Buckley didn’t publicly claim responsibility for the noses until 2011, allowing fourteen years for the architectural details to produce stories, from the speculative to the endearingly fantastic.

Urban myths then grew to explain the appearance of the noses. One was that the nose on Admiralty Arch was modelled on Napoleon’s and placed at a height to enable cavalry troopers from nearby Horse Guards Parade to tweak it as they passed.

What is perhaps the best-known legend referring to the Seven Noses of Soho, is that if you manage to find all seven of the mysterious noses hidden around London’s historic entertainment district, you will become fabulously wealthy. Another myth took the noses to be original and claimed that London architects used to be in the practice of including casts of their noses on their finished buildings.

Another held the nose was a nod to the Duke of Wellington, who was famous for possessing a very large hooter. The funniest myth is the nose is a spare for Lord Nelson who stands at the top of the column in Trafalgar Square. Apparently, there was concern that the uppermost extremity of Nelson’s likeness would be damaged when the statue was lifted to the top of the high column, so a spare was stashed on the arch. Not bad histories for a nose that didn’t exist until 1997.