Iain Sinclair: 'London Orbital'

I’ve just finished reading ‘London Orbital’ [1.] by Iain Sinclair, something that is rather overdue.  Sinclair is a leading contemporary light of literary Psychogeography and indeed, the first writer who encapsulated properly, a range of attitudes to the urban environment I had previously felt but never really identified formally.  I’ve read and enjoyed much of Sinclair’s work over the years so it really is quite shameful that it’s taken me this long to get round to reading this one.

Iain Sinclair

Sinclair is primarily, (although not exclusively), regarded as a chronicler of London.  First published in 2002, ‘London Orbital’ represents his attempt to investigate the capital, from the outside in as it were, by walking around its perimeter, as delineated by the course of the M25 orbital motorway.  It is therefore, not only a high point of recent Pychogeographical writing, but also an exemplar of the ‘Edgelands’ theme that emerged a few years ago [2.], and to which I have alluded here several times.

Sinclair shared his series of contiguous walks with a number of companions, including artist Renchi Bicknell, fellow writer Kevin Jackson, photographer Marc Atkins, multi-disciplinary conceptualist Bill Drummond and noted Psychogeographical filmmakers Chris Petit and Patrick Keiller.  The project also included a number of interviews, most notably with that other genre Godfather J.G. Ballard.  Interestingly, Sinclair’s orbit can be seen as joining the dots between Ballard’s beloved Heathrow hinterlands and motor-erotic road fixations [3.]; Petit’s road movie sensibilities [4.]; Keiller’s cinematic portraits of London, Suburbia and the hidden countryside beyond [5.]; and indeed, Karl Hyde/Kieran Evans’ more recent Essex-based music and film collaboration [6.].  All concerned bring their own particular outlook on the territory traversed and to the general themes that emerge through Sinclair’s account.

Amongst these themes are: the huxterish residential redevelopment of London’s old chain of peripheral mental asylums; the secrecy of various military-industrial and government institutions; the relationship of suburban and dormitory living with the enduring English myth of rural idyll; the role of the motorway in suburbanising East End crime; the blank consumerism of Thatcher-Blair’s Britain epitomised in the Bluewater and Lakeside shopping complexes; and the empty spectacle of London’s celebration of the Millennium.  The much derided Millennium Dome becomes a notional centre point for the circular march, which thus becomes, not only an examination of London’s fringe, but of the state of the capital/Capital, (and by extension, the nation), at the turn of the century.

M23 Arial View

Bluewater Shopping Centre, West Thurrock, Essex

As ever, what I value most in Sinclair’s work, (and the Psychogeog. approach generally), are the connections made between territory travelled and observed; the historical/artistic/cultural associations discovered in specific locations; the socio-political, (often satirical), reading of landscapes; more or less believable and consciously acknowledged conspiracy theories; and highly personal responses, resulting in the overall construction of a multi-facetted, often highly subjective, reaction to Geography.  This all divides between new revelations and the author’s existing pre-occupations, and the way they feed into the other.

Queen Elizabeth Bridge, M25 Crossing Of The River Thames, Dartford, Kent

Proctor & Gamble Soap & Detergent Factory, West Thurrock, Essex

The skill that Sinclair brings to bear on this process is beautifully encapsulated in the passages that conflate Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ [7.] with the contemporary oil tanks and storage facilities of Purfleet and West Thurrock; the intersection of motorway and river at Dartford; and the vampirical predations of developers and property brokers.

“Vampires, according to Stoker’s mythology, have problems crossing water… The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, scarlet lights at dawn and dusk, is a ladder for vampires.  A ladder on which blood is turned into oil.  And back again.  A motorcycle outrider with BLOOD on his vest.” [8.]

“Storage is the major downriver industry: human, industrial, retail landfill.  Petrol stations all over the south-east are supplied from Purfleet, night-tankers roll in convoy from the gate.  Dracula laid down the paradigm; fifty heavy coffins of Transylvanian earth to be distributed across London.” [9.]

“The Count recognizes that property speculation, an adequate portfolio, begins in the badlands: Purfleet, Mile End New Town, Bermondsey.  Dracula anticipates the boys in braces, Thatcher’s blue-nosed sharks, Blair’s private/public arrangements.  Buy toxic.  Buy cheap: Madhouses, old chapels, decaying abbeys.  Then make your play: storage and distribution.” [10.]

Esso Oil Storage Facility, Purfleet,  Essex

I polished off ‘London Orbital’ in only a few, (admittedly, leisure-filled), days and would heartily recommend it, as both a portal to Sinclair’s other writing, and an enjoyable, highly readable example of all the Psychogeographic palaver in general.  Now I really need to watch the filmed companion piece Sinclair made with Chris Petit and J.G. Ballard, as soon as possible [11.].

[1.]:  Iain Sinclair, ‘London Orbital, A Walk Around The M25’, London, Penguin Books Ltd., 2003, (First Published: Granta, 2002).

[2.]:  Most clearly identified in: Paul Farley & Michael Symmons Roberts, ‘Edgelands, Journeys Into England’s True Wilderness’, London, Jonathan Cape, 2011.

[3.]:  J G Ballard, ‘Crash’, London, Jonathan Cape, 1973, and: ‘Concrete Island’, London, Jonathan Cape, 1974.

[4.]:  Most fully realised in: Christopher Petit (Dir.), ‘Radio On’, UK/Germany, Road Movies Filmproduktion/BFI, 1979.

[5.]:  Patrick Keiller (Dir.), ‘London’, UK, Konink/BFI/Channel 4, 1994; ‘Robinson In Space’, UK, Konink/BFI/BBC Films, 1997; ‘Robinson In Ruins’, UK, Arts & Humanities Research Council/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation/Royal College of Art/BFI, 2010.

[6.]:  Karl Hyde, ‘Edgeland’, and: Karl Hyde & Kieran Evans (Dir.), ‘The Outer Edges, (Edgeland Version)’, Universal Music Operations Ltd., 2013

[7.]:  Bram Stoker, ‘Dracula’, London, Archibald Constable & Co., 1897

[8.], [9.], [10.]:  Iain Sinclair, ‘London Orbital, A Walk Around The M25’, London, Penguin Books Ltd., 2003, (First Published: Granta, 2002).

[11.]:  Iain Sinclair & Chris Petit (Dirs.), ‘London Orbital’, UK, Illuminations, 2004