Untitled blog post from "Land art project"

Day 6

Today’s drizzle makes the going soggy. My channels are getting much shallower now so whilst I am having to snap the grass roots rather than dig then all up in one clump, the work feel like less of a challenge as there is less excess soil to be removed.

I discuss with Jonathan and Helen the practicalities of working with sandstone. Jonathan calls a geologist friend of his to ask his opinion. We are considering chipping a well into the top of a rock so a reservoir of water collects and then seeps through. I wonder, however, if it would evaporate before it even got a couple of inches down. It turns out that the stone in this area is so hard that a diamond drill bit would be needed to cut into the stone, and even then it is likely to split. This sounds all too familiar: for a previous project I decided I was quite capable of drilling holes into some sheets of glass with a diamond bit rather than pay to have it done professionally. After several days work all I had to show for my efforts was a large pile of smashed sheets and tears of frustration!

An amusing conversation follows, suggesting various inelegant ways in which the project could manifest successfully and I realise there is a danger of the work turning into something not far off from a science experiment, especially since the idea is in such an elementary stage, without clear intention.

Just before sunset, mist coats the hills in cobweb-like drapes and I spend some time trudging about with my camera shooting a bathtub sheepdip in the field behind the chalet.

Rona Smith