This Celtic Cross is a frottage from a gravestone at Highgate Cemetery. In this ancient form of the cross, the cross element is surrounded by a circle, said by some to be a symbol of unity and God’s eternal love, and by others to signify a halo. The Celtic Cross predates Christianity in Ireland.

This frottage was created in the Brompton Cemetery and it has an uncanny resemblance to the London Underground logo.

It was coincidental that my partner, MC, and I chanced upon a Labyrinth by Mark Wallinger at the station, on our way to the Highgate cemetery.

“Mark Wallinger, one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists, has created a major new artwork for London Underground to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The result, commissioned by Art on the Underground, is a multi-part work on a huge scale that will be installed in every one of the Tube’s 270 stations.”

“The rumble of trains was a reassuring presence in Wallinger’s childhood, with the Central line running close by his family home in Chigwell, Essex. The Tube provided him with a connection from the countryside to the complexities and possibilities of the metropolis. This personal relationship with the Underground has informed his interest in public transport and fuelled a fascination with the idea of being ‘transported’ in an imaginative or spiritual sense. This idea gave rise to the ancient symbol that lies at the heart of this commission: the labyrinth, which represents this idea of the spiritual journey in many different traditions across the globe. An example of a significant labyrinth from the 13th century can be seen today on the floor of Chartres Cathedral, where visitors are invited to walk its circuitous path as a form of pilgrimage. For Wallinger, the labyrinth is a fitting analogy for the millions of journeys that are made across the Tube network every day.”

He comments: ‘Mostly we go about our business, journeying to work on the Tube and return home along a prescribed route. The seeming chaos of the rush hour is really just the mass of individuals following the thread of their lives home.’

MC and I both believe that life is synonymous to a labyrinth and there is only one way you enter and leave. Stark naked and without any worldly possessions.