Alec Finlay (Scotland)
Alec Finlay (Scotland) »Worldwide letterbox (a circle walk with 5 poems) and CAST« – Installation with 5 letterboxes and a poster
“A multitude of familiar paths lead off from these words in every direction.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein, PI (534)
worldwideletterbox (forest walk)
Five letterboxes containing circle poem rubber stamps, arranged within the forest as a circular walk. The positions of the letterboxes are described in a guide by Peter Fischer. The poems can be stamped into the catalogue. The Darmstadt circle walk is part of a global project siting 100 letterboxes (see www.alecfinlay.com/letterbox.html).
Guide
Walk from the information point to the maple on your left (WWLB047). Walk on to the Herrgottsbrunnenweg, past the
Goethefelsen, until you see the pond in front of you. Turn to the left and you will see the oak (WWLB048). Follow the path at the pond for 100m. On the right you will see the ash (WWLB049). You have to walk back to the junction in front of the pond. Follow the Waldkunstpfad until the “Steg” is in front of you. Keep walking to the left along the avenue of birches and find the letterbox on the birch (WWLB045). After Ludwigshöhe und “Point de Vue” you come to the barracks’ fence. Keep to the right on the Alte Bogenschneise. Here you will find the beech (WWLB046). Follow the Alte Bogenschneise to the information point.
LETTERBOXING – circle poems in letterboxes are the only truly found poems – a circle poem is an arc in time – these poems, they have homes – letterboxing, poésie en plein air – some day the collected guides will be a world book – letterbox guides, word maps, rubber stamps, ink pads, take-away poetry. (AF)
The walk passes close to the perimeter of the US Army Base, where you can see Alec’s other work.
CAST
Six shells containing seed from the native woodland broadcast over the site of a former U.S. army base; Alec Finlay (with a photograph by Maris).
THE NAMES OF THE TREES ARE THESE – beech/buche/Fagus sylvatica; birch/birke/Betula pendula/field maple/ahorn/Acer campestre; ash/esche/Fraxinus excelsior; spruce/fichte/Picea abies; pine/kiefer/Pinus sylvestris. (AF)
Alec also made a performance in the forest.
Broadcast (27.08.06)
LIE FLAT ON YOUR BACK, LET GRAVITY TAKE A REST – Can the rain not rain? – The ship’s creak is in the oak – On either side of the gate there are different ways to wait – The wind through the branches becomes the silences – Know your track, how to find your way in the dark – In every path there is a fork – A cure for sap, finger the dirt – Brushed by pollen, written in dust. (AF)
