Original artwork description:

This scene is a quarter hour's walk from my home. The building used to be a transport cafe called 'The Hungry Horse' and its' tower was some sort of local land mark. As I stood drawing the demolition, one of the gang came over and asked what I was doing. He was surprised when I told him and said, 'Well, in twenty years of demolition no one has ever drawn it before!' He introduced himself as 'the Badger' and informed me that he would be taking down the tower that very day.

Almost every building that goes up must be taken down, sooner or later. Construction and demolition are two sides of the same coin. In busy cities the changing phases of land use are accelerating. In historical perspective, the Badger is the ploughman, preparing the ground for those who will sow the next crop. Five hundred years ago he would have charge of horses and be well-known locally. Today he and his work are screened off from the public, unknown and unnoticed.

Tags: