I am not a relaxed flyer. I am unsure why - I used to enjoy the experience. But I still enjoy the experience of coming into land at Heathrow. There is something magical about flying over East London and following the course of the Thames . The Dome, St Paul's and Hyde Park seen from the vantage point of an astronaut.
I went to see a video installation a few years ago at the Whitechapel gallery. It was called Threshold to the Kingdom by a British artist called Mark Wallinger. It was a video of people arriving at an international airport. As the arrival doors part their expression is remote and unreadable but then turns to joy when they see a familiar face. These passengers could be at the threshold of the United Kingdom or, alternatively, the kingdom of heaven. One of the security guards seems to be a St Peter figure accompanied by the celestial music of Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. On reflection it is not a reassuring artistic conceit for the timid flyer.
Heathrow is cast as a portal ushering people through time and space to arrive reborn at their destination.
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