WORK iN pROGRESS: Breaking Ground
Over the days, Breaking Ground is building and developing steadily. 2 monuments are making progress, but there is work to be done to make them a little taller. The view from afar is relatively insignificant still and although it is not a requisite of the work to adhere to particular measurements, if the stacks are indeed monuments, or mile stones, then visibility is necessary.
My heath cutting skills are improving, and a knowledge of soil best suited for turf is developing. Closer to the path the soil is sandier and the turves are likely to crumble and make weaker building blocks for the monuments. In Heathland Harvest, Chris Howkins writes, ‘cutting is performed with a spade designed specifically for the job of cutting turf. A common version had a stout cross bar to the handle upon which the worker could throw his weight in order to cut through the roots. The blade was heart shaped and fixed to the handle at an angle appropriate for a good stomach thrust? To use any other tool could be an offence’. I have struggled to use the turf spade effectively but by perseverance, another cut breaks through and lifts the turf. This leaves a hole in the ground which is the negative space created in order to become the substance that builds the monuments.
