"In 2019 I travelled to
Naples and Scarborough with the idea of making some work. Long lodged in my
brain had been the 1963 film “Hands over the City” by Francesco Rosi and the
Japanese film “High and Low” by Akira Kurosawa
also made in 1963. Both suggest a link between the
geography of a place and the nature of corruption. But this is not “High” good
and “Low” bad, the tentacles of nastiness twist and turn at all levels. The
elevated Grand Hotel in Scarborough was once, as it’s name indicates Grand,
lording it over the sands thronged with day trippers,
but it is now a bit of a Turkey. When I visited you could get Bed and Breakfast
there for just £25.The building was falling to pieces. Naples is dominated by
the volcanoes Vesuvius and the higher locations of
the city are just as vulnerable as the lower slums.

I had also in my mind also
the posters Railway companies put up to attract visitors, sometimes with
ambiguous messages “Come to Filey. It’s so bracing”. Possibly meaning it was
damn cold. The speedboat seems thrilling, but I have
to point out that it cost £10 per person for just a 5 minute
ride.

When I was in Naples I
wanted some watercolour paint. At the Art Shop they professed ignorance of the
colour Naples Yellow offering Yellow Ochre instead. However, Naples is a city of walls painted what I would call
Naples Yellow".

- Chris Orr, 2021