Perched on what appears to be an uncomfortable grey cube, Doreen Massey is shown on grainy CCTV footage being interviewed by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist (H.U.O.) and architect Rem Koolhaas, as part of the Serpentine Gallery’s first 24-hour interview marathon in 2006 (Obrist & Koolhaas 2006). It is an art celebrity event and among those being interviewed are Damien Hirst, Doris Lessing, Brian Eno and Zaha Hadid. H.U.O. notes that Doreen’s text, “London Inside-Out”, was key to their preparations of “this whole marathon. It’s a text that we always came back to.” As the interview progresses, H.U.O. returns to her influence: “You are, as a professor of geography, in terms of influence, venturing into all kinds of other fields. Many of my artist friends are unusually inspired by your books.” And then he asks, “I was wondering what are your inspirations. What are your … I mean heroes is kind of a big word.” She ventures that she does not have heroes. Rather, there are lives that she finds fascinating:

Asked more explicitly about her disciplinary influences, she turns instead to her geographical preoccupations, foremost that of reconceptualizing space. When Rem Koolhaas asks her “Is this space you are talking about the same space that architects work in?”, she replies, “I’ve wondered about that for donkey’s years because I have worked with architects a lot.” She concedes that her preoccupation is more abstract. Perhaps