541. Greville Road (4)

Have you ever had that strange thing when you hear a word for the first time, maybe on the radio, or at work or something, and then, having never been aware of it in your life before, you keep hearing it again and again. One of those words for me was ‘segue’. It is funny how awareness works. And so it is with Andrew Burns Colwill for me. I didn’t know who he was only a little while ago when I posted about his goldfish. Now, as I go through my archives, I keep finding pieces by him, that I didn’t know were by him, and the best bit about that is that I can now post them here. ABC is very much front of mind for me at the moment.

This piece entitled ‘Health and Safety’ encapsulates our nation’s obsession with H&S and our equal counterbalance of mocking it. “Hold the handrail” they say at work when going up or down the stairs. Infuriating, but somehow endearing. The problem I have with H&S is that it is enforced, not because people care, but because people want to be seen to be caring. Being seen to be doing things is the biggest sham. Just do it…then you will be seen.

I seem to be on a bit of a soapbox. three glasses of wine and this is what happens. Back to ABC…I really like his work. There is something very serene about it, but in this piece there is something troubling too. Perhaps he is so moved by the H&S thing that he needed to express his feelings through his amazing art. I just rant. More to come in a while.