Story in Ambit 234

‘Distant View of a Thought Leaving*’ is now published in the beautiful Ambit Issue 234. Many thanks to all the Ambit staff – they are wonderful. The launch at Tate Modern was packed – all tickets were sold, and they were sending people away. I watched the security guard walk round the room with his clicker, counting people. The launch of an Ambit magazine is a very popular event, obviously.

The title of the story originates from a snippet of text on William Kentridge’s drawing, ‘Parcours d’Atelier’ – hence the asterisk in the title. I have a postcard of the artwork on my desk. It’s a fascinating image and I find it really inspiring. I think he’s captured the concept of a travelling thought.

The setting of my story isn’t really specified but it does have a real place in mind. I didn’t decide on the place but the story occurred there, if you know what I mean. Having written that place isn’t specified, I’ll add that the word ‘gondolas’ appears with some regularity and is probably a large clue. When I visited the Venice Biennale in 2017, I went round the Arsenale as usual and somehow or other found myself in an unused area – a massive warehouse space. Arsenale is a vast complex of warehouses – they seem to go on forever. In an attempt to get out without retracing my steps, I climbed some metal stairs and sneaked out of an inconspicuous side door that opened onto a very narrow path along a canal – it was narrower than the one in the image below but similar, and equally deserted. It was all very strange and it felt precarious, like walking along the edge of a boat’s deck. I had a dizzy feeling as if my head were a long, long way from my feet and I thought I might fall in. I don’t really know how I got there to be honest and I have no idea why I resurrected the experience in this story.

The story is concerned with friendship, time, conceptual art, and to what extent we can fathom events. It holds a lot of unoccupied space, I think – there’s room for the reader to think and be creative. If you get hold of a copy, I hope you read it and that you enjoy the story. There is lots and lots of amazing poetry. I’ll write a little more about the poems when I’ve had a chance to read them properly.