Goddamn, Stephen, I haven't a clue how to answer any of those questions!
I came across it recently in an article on Finlay & Little Sparta, his
garden of concrete poetry, or concrete poetry garden. There was a
battle there way back when, when it was about to be closed down by the
Scottish Arts Council or some such governmental organization. Now it's
being taken over & saved for posterity by the govt.
I love it just for the pay &, yes, that you can grow against as well as
for. And that within, even contemplation might be active, & also
against, outraged, trying hard to change things.
Something like that.
What Finlay has done with the massive 'library' of the past that he has
quoted in(to) his active space is certainly more than just accepting
that past, much closer to what Alison & others were suggesting is using
given patterns to undermine their inherent 'politics'....
It's a sublimely gorgeous place that troubles you further (in delight
etc) every turn you take on its paths....
Doug
On 30-Aug-05, at 9:40 AM, Stephen Vincent wrote:
>> Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really
>> attacks.
>> Ian Hamilton Finlay
>
> Doug - perhaps in the context of both parenting and formalism - I
> remain
> intrigued by this Finlay quote. How do you interpret it?
> What is the garden's role in the "attack"?
> What is the gardener's role - attacked or on the attack? Feminine or
> masculine!!??
> Does Finlay define his garden as an "attack" in the sense of an
> aggressive
> statement about the nature of gardens and the outside community,
> including
> the State that impinges on the garden?
>
> Does a garden require an heroic couplet to both contain and nurture?
> If I remember right, Finlay has at least one couplet cut into stone on
> one
> of the edges of his garden. Ironically - in terms of the George
> Bowering
> quote - the couplet invokes both Rousseau and Poussin! I did a little
> Google
> research and could not find the quote, but Mark Scroggins, a critic
> whose
> work I really like, has a piece on Finlay in Jacket which I want to
> get back
> to and read:
> http://jacketmagazine.com/15/finlay-by-scroggins.html
>
> I must say I am somewhat enthralled by the Finlay quote. I just want
> to know
> if he's talking about a problem with invasive weeds or, as most likely,
> something else. And how is the quote in service of your own work?
> (Briefly,
> of course).
> Speaking of work I have to get down to it!
>
>
Douglas Barbour
11655 - 72 Avenue NW
Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
(780) 436 3320
Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks.
Ian Hamilton Finlay
|