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"How could I celebrate my sexuality filled with so much sadness, and frustration for what has been lost?" - Derek Jarman, Modern Nature (1992:56)

The Clearing follows Derek Jarman as he strolls through the popular North London cruising area of Hampstead Heath, lured by the sounds of a saxophone. He encounters groups of men loitering amongst the trees before finding a clearing and stopping to observe the young musician. Jarman wrote openly in his diaries about his experiences cruising the Heath for sex and the associations that could be made between gardens and sexual freedom. In Modern Nature (1992) he wrote: 'the alfresco **** is the original ****. Didn't the Garden of Eden come before the house which hid our nakedness? Sex on the Heath is an idyll pre-fall.' He also described the experience of sex in public, writing: 'The deep silence, the cool night air, the pools of moonlight and stars, the great oaks and beeches… as always, once you are over the invisible border your heart beats faster and the world seems a better place.' (p.83-84)