Pearse’s ‘The Wayfarer’ at St Enda’s Park
Invited by the OPW to put forward a proposal for Pearse’s poem at St Enda’s Park, I saw it as an opportunity to open up and activate the surrounding gardens. I felt that the artwork was Pearse’s poem – my role was to translate the poem as it migrated from paper to stone and into an outdoor setting. My idea was to present Pearse’s poem as a journey or pathway, located in the outermost circle of the walled garden.
Each line of the poem is given a stone, forming a circular trail over the course of 21 stones. The meter or cadence of the poem is retained as one journeys the length of the poem, creating time and space to absorb each line. The circle of text cutting across these stones gives it the appropriate coherence to earn its place in the formal setting, while the rough texture of the Donegal quartzite gives it a more gentle presence. It is part of the garden – revealing independent lines, but the whole only to those that journey the full length of the poem.