The completed labyrinth
Walking in the same footprints out
Here’s the description of our Bay of Fundy creation for the Victoria and Albert Museum World Beach Project, open to anyone, anywhere, of any age. Building on the universal experience of making patterns on beaches and shorelines, the opportunity is to make a creation of stones and then submit your photos to the project site. For more information go to http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty.world_beach/
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Created by Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy, chocolate sustenance by Harvey
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock already well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large Gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
Wendy
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
Here’s the description of our Bay of Fundy creation for the Victoria and Albert Museum World Beach Project, open to anyone, anywhere, of any age. Building on the universal experience of making patterns on beaches and shorelines, the opportunity is make a creation of stones and then submit your photos to the project site. For more information go to http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty.world_beach/
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
1 comment:
I really enjoyed the pictures of the Bay of Fundy, since we were in that area a few years ago.
Our friends have a house at Roches Point on Lake Simcoe. Across the road, on, I think what must be the highest point of the lake, there is a retreat house for Catholic nuns. On a clear day you can see the CN tower from their back porch. My friend, Linda and I, have walked the labyrinth that the nuns set up in their wooded area, and wondered about it's meaning, although I thought it was probably mostly for meditating. I like your idea that it is a spiritual replacement for an actual pilgrimage. Interestingly, their property on the lake was once considered as a site for the capitol of Ontario.
Kathy
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