Burglar Alarm Britain

“Holt Security Systems” burglar alarm, Lambeth • This striking stylised hand looks like it’s had the fingers chopped off in a nasty door-trapping incident, though it also recalls the shape of a house, and (coincidentally) the cute “grabber” icon that moves things around on Mac computers. The firm is presumably the long-established West Sussex family business whose website is here, though there’s no matching logo on the site. I think we can safely assume it’s not run by reggae legend John Holt, who sang my favourite anti-work song of all time, “Mr Big Boss” – you can hear it here. Totally off burglar alarm topic, but on my more usual subject of art, Holt also sang the sublime “Riding for a Fall“, with which Tracey Emin soundtracked the eponymous film of herself trotting defiantly around Margate beach at sunset on a donkey. Sounds stupid, but the quavering fairground classic lent it considerable poignancy. So as well as having a messy bed, Emin’s got great taste in music, despite including “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” in her Desert Island Discs. • Spotted: Secker Street, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall

Scenes from Tracey Emin's "Riding for a Fall", 1998 – basically the artist trotting around on Margate beach to the strains of John Holt's eponymous classic. Sadly there's not a copy of the video to be found on the internet, as artists are very hot on copyright.