Etchings in a Brickwork Surround

It begins as an object

A placeholder of a time, a location, a debate of ownership

The assemblage of intermediate pieces, together forming one whole self

Pull at the seams of it to allow for the history to escape its innards

Loosen the edges, fill its spaces with your interpretations

Allow a novel to unfold from the fragments of its being

Now walk the lines of the pages

Unfold the route through the map of its histories

Focus yourself on the puzzle of a place

It could be as simple as a doorway, a transience, a procession of space

Under your microscope it pulls itself apart

A sum of its parts

The layers of signage, reveals of past occupancy

Lacquer on top of paint, scratch at it to expose its hidden layers

There is a micro-ritual to this threshold

Search for its users, who passes through its opening

Find clues of its uses on the etchings in its brickwork surrounds

The marks of those who consume its spaces

Where footprints have walked, a trail is left behind

Like boot prints in mud, stone too melts under a human presence

Trace the steps slumping towards the centre

A heavy shoe dragged over its limp core once again

You too leave your mark over each material you touch

This sinks into your consciousness

As you capture each interesting change in surface, your clothes leak fibres into the air

Someone again will stand where you once stood

As time passes more layers emerge