Alec Finlay
@alecfinlay
artist and poet; ecological remediation and human recuperation; landscape, tea, limit and creativity; lives by the sea in Edinburgh; mostly sharing a daily poem here.
for Christine & Ross I ask how he’s been since she died? Good, but spinning like a compass. And aren’t we all at sea as the wild- flowers laid on the wicker casket mount up like a great wave of spray.
sea meadow the machair flowers and a brown hen cooried in among them 26.VII.26
word-mntn (Druim Diomhain, the ridge of purposelessness, Tarskavaig). Diomhain can mean vain, lazy, of no use, and will refer to the lack of agricultural value in the land.
The Harry Potter Pines, Loch Eilt– Baby Pine, Sporty Pine, Posh Pine, etc
Gleann Taitneach, the lovely glen; off Glenshee, with views of Ben Earb, roe-deer ben, on a recording trip with Chris Watson.
Day of Access, a manifesto on human recuperation and ecological remediation, A3, risograph, edition of 300.
'for all seasons / cycle', proposal for a wooden bicycle by sandwich bikes; five were gifted to residents of housing estates in Cambridge
manifesto of the radical rest collective, composed from multiple voices describing the philosophy of radical rest; risograph A3, available for £10.
Photos from a recording of blackcock by Preas Bad Coilleach Dubh, the blackcock's-bit-of-the wood, a lek in Ballochbuie. With Chris and Maggie Watson, photo by Mhairi Law. You can hear the recording here: gathering.bandcamp.com/track/blackc...
Memory book interweaving the names of everyone who donated an organ, created for the National Organ and Tissue Donation Memorial, 2014. The book was buried in a kist below the memorial artwork. Photo by Hanna Devereux. Copies of Taigh, the book accompanying the memorial are available for £10.
'pattern / a form / purposefully broken', on a sculpture by Cal Lane at ye olde Sydney Biennale.
Brash micro-exclosure, Mar Lodge, created to protect saplings. Now that deer culling is succeeding such structures are no longer needed. Their fortified appearance speaks to the plague of deer. Taken on a trip up Allt Connie to record rutting deer with Chris Watson, July 2017. Photo by Mhairi law.
A scorchio day of access with asylum seekers from The Welcoming, at University of Edinburgh's woodland at Drumbrae, and Cocksburn Reservoir, Bridge of Allan, exploring place-awareness, plant listening, and sharing a paddle. A cure for any blues and reminder sense of belonging is something we create.
Restival, 18.VI.26, Dunbar Close Garden. Collective rest for people with chronicity. Featuring 'Ascent' an imaginative audio ascent of a mountain by Chris Watson, plant listening with Tamara Colchester, sky frames with Hayden Lorimer, hot water bottle sculpture installation by Roshi Pradhan.
To celebrate Scotland's brief sojourn – don't come home too soon lads – at the most corrupt of World Cups, I have copies of the football haiku anthology, made for the Japan/South Korea World Cup, with Guy Moreton and Zoe Irvine. 208pp colour, anthology of three word poems, £8.00. PM if you want one.
A SOMETIME VALLEY / wadi 9.VI.26, from a day of access shared with asylum seekers, Flotterstone.
Medwyn I with enough wind the willow nods II – the. morse. code.–of. swift. wings– III the birch leaves are gummy from the sun IV the stiller we are the closer the martins dive their burrows are like bullet holes in the sandy bank 6.VI.26