The Path as a Venue for Art
Bo Whitworth
Occasional I have a visitor who comes to experience by beautiful farm
and to go for a walk on my walking track. Visitors enter by the large
silver cast iron front gate and a sign says a mysterious, "Normality
Stops; Reality Begins". Further on up the driveway to the old
Queensland style country house. Through another gate and the walking
track begins.
It is the path that leads us from the comfort of our home into the
dark and mysterious world of "The Jungle" and its still untamed and
uncivilised ways. The path is the smooth over rough places, the ribbon
of comparative safety and security bringing the known into the unknown
and bringing a touch of civilisation into the uncivilised. From the
path we view into and over the wilds and feel that the unknown has
been tamed. Art is the achievement of civilisation but uncivilised
nature draws us with the allure of its beauty. My path explores the
tension between these two opposites.
We start with a swim in the creek to wash away our preconceived
perceptions. This miraculous water hole is always full with water no
matter how severe the drought and just up stream, the creek is always
flowing. What a blessing!
Beside the creek is a tree with the initials CM, carved into it. Who
did this and in what circumstances he wanted to be remembered by is
now totally lost.
A little further on, we enter a man made forest. It is more correct to
say that this is one of the forests that I’ve planted and grown
myself. This particular forest was made up with plants that were all
rejects from the forestry nursery. The trees are all so straight and
tall and all planted in ordered rows, well almost anyway. Turn left
onto the narrow path and there on our left is a sight where reality
needs suspending. A pine tree has done the impossible and instead of
growing so straight and tall like all the others has by some freak of
nature grown into a circle before continuing its upwards direction.
This is not me and my silvan tricks but an act of mysterious untamed
Nature.
We now glance at a strategically placed rock and the question is
posed, is it natural or has it been placed there by the hand of man
and if so, for what reason? Is the motivation art or is it just a
whim? Man has been placing rocks for thousands of years and I’m
drawn to the pastime as well but I don’t know why.
A small clearing is entered and here is a small and remote hut. Inside
is a little mural painted by two hippy girls. One a business graduate
from the US with a professional background and a father employed on
some secret mission in the Pentagon and the other from NZ. Together
they were travelling the great magical land of Oz doing spontaneous
abstract murals as acts of goodwill. I never discovered how
successfully the US girl returned to the grim reality of her business
world. The sign says "The Edge of the Known World". The path is taking
us beyond the known.
Next a fork in the path marked by a cairn, the ancient sign of human
habitation. This should still be standing unless the cows have knocked
it down since they hate all aspects of my landscape art. Take the
right hand path.
If you look carefully at your feet, a little further on, there is a
piece of bent and rusted barbed wire. Further to the right, is even
the well preserved remains of an old fence. This fence is symbolic of
the changes that have occurred. One hundred years ago this was
untouched rainforest. It was cleared and burnt and turned into bananas
and pasture for cattle and a fence was build with confidence for the
future. Now this phase seems almost impossible to perceive as the
jungle advances slowly and relentlessly and civilisation is in
retreat. This is an example of Australian gothic in the landscape. A
now mysterious ruin of a lost or declining civilisation and a way of
life now almost totally lost.
The next intersection has a track to the left going to a giant and
ancient tree [a dottard], a cave big enough to camp in, a dark and
deep bat cave, and then the path follows a tunnel of walking height;
but we are to complete the circuit and to go straight ahead to the
shrine. A seat is on our left to rest and take in the significance of
the site. The shrine was made when a cow bone was discovered while
planting these pine trees years ago. Since then there have been
various donations such as a sea shell, a broken brick, a jewel, a
twisted piece of wood, an old and decayed bronze vase and other quirky
additions. Visitors are invited to mount the dais, sound the gong, a
fortuitously found hub cap, and to give a spontaneous talk on what
ever subject is upper most in their minds. For example, to quote a
visitor, "I used to walk up to your big silver front gate and think
that what ever was beyond it was a mystery, now that I’ve had a
look, I now know that the mystery is even greater!" Yes I like the
thought.
Visitors are invited to collect a piece of broken pottery and to take
it with them and to add it to the walking track where ever it seems
appropriate. When we walk the path, we wear it down fractionally and
it is beneficial to make a little reparation. These discarded pieces
of pottery which were once useful, broken into uselessness and now
have become useful again. To walk the path and to be momentarily
caught by surprise by a glint of broken pottery may just allow us in
the instant to see things differently.
Further into the jungle and another seat. Here a drink is offered with
a natural chalice from the clear water of a spring in the creek. More
broken pottery from times past. Another cairn is slowly rising as
suitable rocks are found and added.
The path now turns to the right and gradually climbs the hill side. A
look out rock is reached with a view over the valley below. In a
crevice on the rock cliff behind the lookout is another cow bone. This
bone has the word "GOMPA" painted on to it. This bone was found when I
planted the Gympie Messmate tree beside the lookout. Bear a
moment’s thought to the days when one hundred cows lived here
and they needed to graze so high up on this rugged hill side for
grass. Circumstances change. The word gompa is a shrine dedicated to
the Buddha. This was painted by a japanese lady who visited here a
year ago. She was of Shinto background but had studied in India for a
year. For her, beauty was found at every turn of the path and every
twist of a leaf. At suitable places as reverence to nature, she
painted a japanese character in water colour paints on leaves, rocks
and stems. Upon seeing the cow bone, she prostrated herself in
deference to the lost life. On it she paints the word, gompa. In front
of the bone, on the rock she paints the english word, "RESPECT" I
suppose in an attempt to redeem the situation. Never has my walking
track been so greatly appreciated!
A little further on are some fig trees growing over rocks. The same
species that are growing over the temples at Ankor Wat. A closely
related species to the tree under which the Buddha received
enlightenment. Just beyond is a human face in the cliff. The face
looks rather severe as it looks down on my farm below. On each cheek
is painted a japanese character. One is now almost invisible due to
the ravages of time and the meaning is now lost, the other is a word
that may be translated as respect.
Past some over hanging rocks and a ledge with a few offerings and
another character. This can still be understood and just recently I
was told that it says "thank you". I appreciate the thought. On now to
a large seat made from the wood from a giant tree. This tree was so
large that the cross cut saw that cut it down had only an inch on
either side to work with and so the process was very slow and
difficult as the story was told to me by the old man who cut it down
in his youth. Eventually the tree was felled and speared down below.
We can’t help but dwell on human folly. The effort to cut the
ancient forest, the effort to grow bananas on the steep slope, the
effort to keep it free of weeds for grazing cattle, the lost battle
due to the persistence of the invading weeds, the supreme battle to
attack the weeds and plant a new forest and the effort to keep the
weeds in check until the trees can stand alone. We sit on the seat and
ponder!
Across a plank and over a semi permanent spring high up on a hill
side. A marvel!
Further on and to another seat. Looking up and tied into the fork of a
shrub, we can see a rock in the shape of a severed head. This is an
example of suiseki, a japanese word meaning something found in nature
that represents something else. Visitors are invited to take a piece
of chalk and enhance the features to perhaps make it clearer as to who
is found here. In the middle ages, severed heads were placed on stakes
for their shock value and to help maintain law and order. I have not
come to a conclusion as to the purpose of this severed head. He now
has a chip from his nose from when the cows knocked him down the hill
while in a different location. It was quite a struggle to find him in
all the lantana and to carry him back up the hillside. Any ideas as to
who it is and what I should do with him?
Keep walking on, through the eucalyptus forest, onto the slashed
track, straight on and in to the rainforest with another large tree.
Another seat gives a view to the house below and from another lookout,
the scale of the planted forests can be seen.
Into now another and older plantation. Here there are now no rows. The
trees were initially planted in rows but many died of drought and
replanted time and again until the rows are now lost and it looks as
if the trees were sown by natural broadcasting.
Just off the track, and down into the rainforest is a special and
mysterious tree. This very ancient tree I guess to be over a thousand
years old. It has the name of Lignum Vitae, a latin word which means
in english, tree of life. If you look closely, you can just see
grooves cut into the tree. These are spaced and positioned as they
were aboriginal toe holds used for climbing. This is contentious but
it is what I think. Us the civilised, as we like to think of
ourselves, am now face to face with the long lost natural world. Are
we civilised or is it just a veneer we put on for convenience. Us the
civilised, could we live in the wild or climb this tree? I doubt it.
Which is greater, us and our civilisation or the natural world that
supports us? How do us the civilised reunite ourselves with the
sustaining wild and untamed natural world? Can making paths become as
popular as gardening and landscaping?
Down the hill across a ruined bridge, and on to the house. The
circumambulation is now completed.
Can I finish with the word, wabisabi. The profound in the ordinary.
I have the occasional visitor and if anyone is interested they can
contact me by the above email address. I'm located in Queensland
Australia about 100 miles north of Brisbane.