From The Cabin

On entering Bankside in the ancient borough of Southwark, if we bypass Bear Lane – which would have lead to one of the ‘Beere Bating’ arenas in the days when there were wild bears in the forests around London – and look straight past the Cabin up Great Suffolk Street, we see a view; a view given to me and my wife Bella for 10×10 this year.

It is a view with a magnetic attraction – to eyes and mind, feet and fingers – which in a strange way flattens space.

It is always good to stop still, stand and listen to a view as it goes by; the experience of the street gets better and better that way. But it is also good to trace over a view, take it apart like a jigsaw puzzle and put it back together; simplified, flattened, coloured and pressed into relief.

To watch this view, looking towards Tate Modern and the Thames beyond, changing – with its grand dancing pyramid fully formed now, standing naked, soon to be clothed in a cloak of crusty brick – is like seeing time slowed down; watching the city change before our very eyes. And to move into the Cabin is to be part of this process.

The picture will be sold at the 10×10 Auction tomorrow – raising money for far away places in dire need of shelter and support, thanks to Article 25. Thanks to Bella for the colour. Thanks to Bankside for the place.

Bankside