ECHO 10/2/06

Big wooden barriers, slats burnished to a metallic sheen by the weather – in the Southwark Diocese offices we meet a friendly woman and a wiry, thin bishop who peers at us through thick glasses – London seems void of people today, there are empty spaces where people used to be, and it feels strange (again I have that feeling of it being at arms length from me, veiled) – I recall Karl Wallinger in his studio, I wonder what he’s doing now after all that speed and activity, up there high above the city, gazing back in time – many dead flies on the windowsill, ornately splayed legs, thorax curved over to touch the head, caught in the afternoon light, swallowed by dust – all these young film-makers and TV Drama students come in with their little digi-cams and hide behind the pop-out LCD screens, mumbling their way through their sessions, a lack of expression, a lack of communication, surely storytellers should be able to communicate?