I walked this morning thinking about bleakness and how this is communicated (or perhaps felt is a better word) through spaces and environments. I walk in the early hours. The dark then (particular in this approach to winter) is absolute. Leaving the house to walk out into is a dread time, managed through the fuss of getting ready – all those layers to be zipped up, fastened and tied. It is easier when there is no rain and wind to navigate. I want to locate those bleak spaces in this shabby town. Generally they feature a streetlight, throwing shadows and a sharp, cold lemon-yellow light. Corners of streets are typical too, with all that signage that has usually been fixed to a wall, that for some reason fascinates me so. There is a slight sense of unsafety in such spaces. I don’t want to linger long and yet I seek them out. I want to draw them to find my own bleakness within them.
