'This S(c)eptic Isle': Notional Pride 1

All Images: West Leicester, March 2021

 

A return to 'TSI' themes, after a reasonable hiatus, with the start of yet another series [1.].  Would that the issues which triggered the overall project had dwindled away in that time, but sadly - the opposite is very much the case.  The inexorable slide into national psychosis continues.  The lunatics are in full control - and seemingly intent on draping every public edifice (and vaccination effort) in their tawdry rag, in some infantilising pretence of unity.

One could just keep quiet and turn inwards - I suppose.  But silence is all too easily misinterpreted as compliance.  And ultimately, that can be no road to mental health - can it?  Never mind 'national pride', or the othering of those who won't celebrate their own oppression.  Until there's something to be genuinely proud of, it's critical thinking and self-respect that matter the most... 

[1.]:  In fact, this one was almost strangled at birth.  During my initial attempt to photograph it, the wind snatched away the flag poster - depositing it within a secure builders' compound.  It took over an hour for it to gradually blow across the entire site, and against the opposite fence - from where I could retrieve it.  It's also worth noting that I originally found the poster purely by chance, amongst a pile of street refuse, some years ago - as the 'TSI' project was commencing.  The shots here, (and the frustration they represent) feel rather more meaningful than what I had actually intended.  I guess it is meant to be, after all.

Significant Yellow Item: #2021.009

 

Central Nottingham, October 2016

1:   A punctuation of the surface plane.

2:  Slightly raised (Trip Hazard) 

    3:  Highlighted in Safety Yellow.

    

    4:  The Creep of Corrosion

     5:  The seduction of repeat pattern.

    

     6:  Tactile/Ductile.

    7:  Access to a submerged conduit.

    8:  A node in the infrastructure.

Significant Yellow Item: #2021.008

 

North-East Leicester, July 2020

Abandoning the major route here, we can explore a less familiar transit.  A descent into the functional underbelly is undertaken. 

From this particular vantage point, a section of the city's gut is exposed to view.  Immense steel jaws churn.  Slow digestive processes are enacted in a pit of mangled metals.  

Elements await sorting in this randomised terrain.  The reclamation of some value is pitted against slow oxidisation.  This is a crucible for the basest, last-ditch alchemies. 

High on its promontory, the isolated cell is individuated against an implacable corrugated cliff.  The rearward aspect is undeniable.  It is elevated above chaos as a sole beacon of control.  Some attempt at surface preservation has been attempted.  Certain tokens of security adhere.

Gazing across the corroded abyss, we can imagine ascending the gantry to that solitary capsule.  Turning from a grime-encrusted control panel, might we be consumed in the tortuous grind?

Playlist 16: Music To Make Contemporary Abstract Paintings To.

 

The current soundtrack...

Significant Yellow Item: #2021.Y007

 

All Images: Central Leicester, January 2021

Here the glistening ramp inclines towards a portion of secret space - stacked in one of the city's overlooked interstices.  Several such zones exist, enfolding more dimensions than any standard topographical reading might encompass.  Beyond the heraldic barr, the way is delineated in gold, and canopied on cadmium pillars - switching internal to external, before coiling out of sight.

Our understanding of such places remains problematic - even following repeat visits.  Time slows, and may become suspended altogether.  It can only be productively spent beyond the walls.  Inside, memory may fail, and familiar connections become loosened.  Stasis reigns.  Abandonment is key.  We might discard standard purposes within this circuit, create strange new dreams, or pass away a lifetime within it.  And yet such longing is sternly discouraged.  Apprehension remains a possibility even though the wardens stay hidden.

   

Remote and perpetually watchful - the entire edifice operates as a paranoid accumulator.  Slowing seconds tick through monitor displays and hidden cables.  Shadow multiplies - thickening in angles.  Admission is conditional, and a fear of imprisonment prevails until the moment of release.  Brutality may be postponed, but return is inevitable.