Once more the artist ventures forth along the streets of the inner city, recording the arcane

symbols scripted on the surfaces of roads and pavements. Exploring the marks of unknown authors, he traces those who have frequented these desperate paths.

One thing is for sure, the entrance to the underworld has never been so fraught with ambiguity and misunderstanding. What do they mean, these symbols and cryptic vestiges of a forgotten language?

Is it not obvious; that they aspire to act as guides to the attainment of that forbidden destination? Their semiotics are deranged or else form the basis of perverse rituals for certain secret societies, hostile to polite enquiry.

The only course that remains is to launch forth in a spirit of wilful ignorance and pursue the vestiges of their compass by whatever means.

The Symbol on the Street is one of a series of photographic compilations that observe the text and graphics written on the street surface in the course of digging up the roads.

These photographs were taken on the streets within 1 mile of the Tate Modern, London during April 2010. I have frequented this area for the past 30 years and know its streets well.

The appearance of these markings on a street is not just of academic interest - it is a chilling omen of temporal devastation to come.

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