Wednesday, 31 October 2012

The Work of Art II: Henry

"Cop on, Henry. Don't look at me like that or I'll kick you down the stairs."

Henry is being difficult. He's old and grubby and one of his wheels doesn't really turn any more, and the wire doesn't unwind as smoothly as it should. Suction's ok, as long as your knuckles are white gripping the joint where the metal pipe meets the plastic tube. And he's much too portly to rest on a single step so you have to keep one knee pressed against him so he doesn't fall. It would serve him right if he did, the way he keeps getting stuck round corners and tripping me with his wire. 

Day two of my internship and I'm hoovering the back staircase.

The building is just covered in debris. Mostly fine sawdust and flakes of paint, but also dust and god-knows-what-else. There are three floors plus the basement. It's taking a long time, my back hurts, I'm covered in dust. And after I'm done, the front staircase awaits.

"God, Henry! Stop being a little bitch."

The plastic overalls are making me sweat.

I said it before;
Art is hard.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About the Author

is a human being with two x chromosomes during whose life the earth has circumnavigated the sun 20 times.