Once thought lost forever,
it was discovered in America in 1940,
being used to line a crate of firearms.
Above the city, all seems wondrous,
but at street level it was out of control again.
The different departments of life are jumbled together.
The hod carrier, the low mechanic, the tapster,
the publican, the shopkeeper, the petty fogger,
the citizen and courtier,
all tread upon the kibes of one another.
They are seen everywhere rambling,
riding, rolling, rushing, jostling, mixing, bouncing, cracking,
and crashing in one vile ferment of stupidity and corruption.
For the last 200 years,
many artists have tried to contain London in one vast image or sprawling work.
I wanted to express my fascination with the city,
its contradictions, its intricacy,
its mass of people,
all living their separate and sometimes communal lives.