Spring Ritual
(X) Sites Land Art Project 2019 by Laura Lio
Spring Ritual
My (X) Site is called Stinsens åker and is the field where the train station master grew vegetables. At the entrance of this rectangular green field there is a set of trees, followed by an open space where the Spring’s fire ritual is celebrated on April 30. Vålborg is the Swedish name of this celebration. This location is next to the old Strömsfors’ train station, overlooking the old mill, on the banks of the river Assman, which is a tributary of the river Ätram.
My project bears a form that resembles ancient symbols and structures such as runes and stone circles or domarringen. My proposal was to develop this site by merging my creativity with the natural characteristics which have been there for untold years. Since I find rituals relevant and meaningful, I realized that I could emphasize the Spring Ritual that often takes place around an establish fire place. To begin I spent time at the site listening, viewing and capturing its special characteristics. I saw in front of the old train station a pile of stones, a pile of roots and a container with scraps of materials. With the objective of developing this area, I imagined placing a large circle of granite stones which would serve to embrace the central fire characteristics of its light, hearth and warm.
I placed the stones in a circle whose distance from the center will allow one to feel that the stones were embracing the Ritual Spring fire. My landscape architecture gives reference to megalithic sites in Sweden and also recall the runes stones that were first carved and then painted with falun red color. This stone circle invites people to engage themselves by sitting on the stones and enjoy this extraordinary place
While working at Stinsens åker I asked to local people what is the river´s name. They told me Assman. I thought that the river´s name might come from distant times so I looked for its etymology. I also noticed that the people seamed a bit uncomfortable with some of the name’s meanings. Indeed, we turned one old meaning which was unpleasant for a better one. Therefore, I decided to write this one on the stones. I believe the river’s name Assman is derived from the Greek term “Erasmos” which means “Loved”.
On each stone at the circle I carved and painted a letter. There were 42 stones to place in a circle. These stones form the 13 words with a space between each word. Each carved letter was painted in a playful manner. To read each word and understand the sentence one has to walk inside and outside the circle. When I choose the color of the paint I selected the traditional Falu Rödfärg or falun red, well known for its use in Sweden in wooden cottages and barns.
Laura Lio
May 2019, Strömsfors
pezplata@yahoo.com.ar
www.lauralio
