Cythera by Ian Hamilton Finlay

These are from a piece called "Cythera" by Ian Hamilton Finlay. They belong to a ring of standing stones situated near a busy road in my home town of Hamilton. They have been vandalised to an extent but are still clean. Layers of stone are beginning to crumble but they remain solid. They are framed by the sky as every element of earth should be. When I look up at them I feel both solid and as light as a leaf in air. I feel the earth and I feel the sky. I feel rooted and I feel transcendent.

There are more which I may post at some later date. For now, these words are for me today. They exist for today. This day, as all days, I am of earth and heaven. I am both. When the balance is right, I exist centrally, solidly, softly. I have direction and belonging. I am of and I am to. Of and to. This is a blessing as words on stone are a blessing. Reaching from and to. For, of, in, up, to. Today, somedays, all daze.

Click on and zoom out to 50% to best view these text images derived from early minimalist composition and painting, especially Glass, Reich, Rothko. I was interested in repetition and rigid structures both symbolically and visually. The solid blocks of repeated text create the impression of formality and rigour, but this is offset by the subject matter - water, light, flight, love, laughter - and the optical effect created by the patterning, which has a kind of light mesmeric quality. It's an attempt to at once ground and unsettle the viewer.

For example, the columns of "crow wing shine" have a solidity and structure to them (like a formal regiment of crows), but at the same time, the white spaces in between the heavy black text create a dazzling effect on the eye, immediately de-stabilising the rigid columns.

These are taken from a chapbook entitled "The Faithful City", available from:

afterlight at blueyonder dot co dot uk