Andy Marshall's Genius Loci Digest: 6 Dec 2024
Despite our darkest selves, through the time-sieved collective, we can’t help but express the essence of what it means to be human.
This digest revels in the in-between, the transitional, the presence of absence. My camera with its dials and knobs and sharp focus has taken me into the blur of things. It has taught me that because things can't be measured it doesn't mean that it isn't there. The spirit of things, the essence of our places is as real as my shutter button.
Despite our darkest selves, through the time-sieved collective, we can’t help but express the essence of what it means to be human.
As I stand but a few inches away from the recumbent knight, I can’t help but reflect on the vast distance of time that separates us.
In the midst of Richmond I found an invincible joy in the accumulation of the past within the honeycombed streets.
Woody’s getting on a bit, but I’ll carry on using this beloved van for as long as I can—to keep that flicker alive, to be a small candle in the dark.
The climb to the castle heights takes me from the market's hustle and bustle to the whistle of the wind through the ramparts. With every metre gained in height, the clamour below gradually evaporates.
My story, now unfolding, was filled with renewed perspective and purpose.
And so, in a café in Howden, through the portal of the final page of my little black sketchbook, I begin to see the world as it truly is.
The light is a blessing today, John - the magnificent and ruinous east end is rising above the rooftops.
It’s remarkable how, when we take the time to look closely, we can sense the spirit or zeitgeist behind an object. For me, it feels like time travel—an opening into the mind of the artist who crafted it.