Monday 18 September 2023

Slipping through the Net

'Slipping through the Net' is a small concertina book with a poem inspired by a failed attempt to get an appointment at an NHS GP surgery.


I wrote the text to illustrate the sense many people feel of being forgotten or disregarded, as the UK struggles with the decline in NHS services.


One side of the book was made by monoprinting a piece of scrim (loosely woven net) on cartridge paper. The other side was a monoprint of textures from Anaglypta wallpaper. The ink is a mix of Prussian Blue and Bone Black.


The text is Avenir 10pt and was inkjet printed on newsprint paper, then cut and glued into the pages. 

The book measures 6 x 48cm.



'Slipping through the Net' title page



'Slipping through the Net' inside



The poem inside reads:

when did it start
this slipping

a shift
quiet in its carelessness

a lapse
a miscalculation

an oversight
of my own omission
or theirs

and anonymity named me

as the net gently
tracelessly

let me through