Stonehenge and Concorde
Jonathan Miller chose two icons – and had something to say on the concept of iconicity too.
“There are certain places which to varying degrees have become iconic
and then they fade away. Stonehenge is … an icon of mysterious and
enigmatic antiquity – what was it for, how did they get the stones
there?”
“I think Concorde was iconic because it represented the last fling of
British post-war aeronautical ingenuity, as well as being the plane on
which the very grand travelled.”
“There are things that go in and out of fashion as icons – they often
enjoy extremely brief iconicity. … I suppose now the very term celebrity
is an example of a shoddy, commercial form of iconicity which is as
rapidly extinguished as it is ignited.”
Read more about Stonehenge.
Read more about and vote on Concorde.
Image of Jonathon Miller ©topfoto.co.uk
Jonathan Miller
Theatre and opera director, physician, sculptor, writer, presenter
A man of seemingly endless talent, Jonathan Miller first came into the
public eye in the Cambridge graduate review Beyond the Fringe with
Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. Since then, he’s proved
himself in just about everything - from stage director to TV writer and
presenter, from lecturer to sculptor.
