(Update 21 March 2013: To see pictures and a description of the final artwork, please click here.)
I am hard at work preparing for a land art project which I am planning to do at the coast soon, and have been spending much time finding and cutting white thorns. These long, straight, white thorns, growing in pairs at an about 90degree angle to each other, are something I typically relate with Namibia. Different kinds of trees and bushes grow them and they look stunning, but are also really painful if you step into one.
I plan to use many (as in thousands) of these thorns, so I have been spending my past few days cutting these thorns off their branches. To get a break from this tedious task, I decided to arrange some of the cut thorns in my garden to see what it looks like. I decided on a simple circle shape. And this is what it looked like.
My cat is in the second picture, since she took great interest in my arranging the thorns and continuously interfered, thinking it is great to bite the thorns, rub her chin on them or walk straight through them. All of which was not very helpful and after I have pushed her away too often, she gave me the cold shoulder. (This picture also serves to give you an idea of the size of the thorns, and these one’s are medium-sized!)
Since it was late in the afternoon, I decided to leave the thorns in the garden and wait till the morning to get some of the morning sun for some extra pictures. When I came back to it early in the morning, I realized that some animal walked into the thorns. The circle was damaged and it was surrounded with tracks.
First I thought it might have been my cat, but the strangest thing is that judging by the size of the scratch marks and spoors, the animal must have been huge, something like a big dog. I know that a mongoose often comes to visit at night and stalk around my compost heap, but other than that, there is no large enough entry into my yard, for anything bigger than a cat. Unless it can fly…
Festus, who sometimes helps me in the garden and whom I called to ask if he could identify the spoor, was not sure what it could be either. But for some reason he thought it might be the perfect time to ask me what the word “Tokoloshe” means.
Wikipedia describes it as follows:
“In Zulu mythology, Tikoloshe, Tokoloshe or Hili (from the Xhosa word utyreeci ukujamaal) is a dwarf-like water sprite. It is considered a mischievous and evil spirit that can become invisible by swallowing a pebble. Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. At its least harmful a tokoloshe can be used to scare children, but its power extends to causing illness and even death upon the victim. The way to get rid of him is to call in the n’anga (witch doctor), who has the power to banish him from the area.”
So, maybe it was a Tokoloshe?
Hmm, I am still puzzled by what it could have been, but at least I know one thing for sure: whatever it was, it stepped right into the thorns and will surely remember the pain and not come back soon.
And if I ever should need an additional income to my art, maybe I can patent this as a form of Tokoloshe Trap and catch some evil spirits roaming the land. 🙂
Imke Rust 
It is very good
You make that circle of thorns when you notice what in your yard
No, I first made it and then I noticed that something came into my yard, after it was destroyed. 🙂
Faszinierend und sehr interessant, wie du arbeitest Imke, amazing!!!!!!
Vielen Dank, Afrikafrau!
Hi, Imke. These are amazing! What is the tree that these thorns come from? Love the picture of your cat sitting with her back to your piece! Helen
Hi Helen, thank you! The thorns are from the Camelthorn Tree (Acacia Erioloba). And yes, my cat loved posing with my artworks… and usually did a good job 😉
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Ich finde insbesondere das erste Gebilde außerordentlich eindrucksvoll und zugeich zu allen möglichen Assoziationen “bewegend”. Ich könnte mich darin vlerlieren, muss aber zurück zum Tageswerk der mühevollen Versuche, die ebenso “stachligen” wie nach allen Seiten wegstrebenden Gedanken in Form zu bringen.
Danke Ute! Ja es ist spannend wie man mit relativ einfachen Mitteln so viele Assoziationen hervorrufen kann. Und fuer mich ist gerade diese From der Kunst (also land art oder nature art) eine gute Art meine Gedanken wieder zu zentrieren und erden, wenn sie durch die taeglichen Dinge zu sehr durcheinander geraten sind oder in alle Richtungen wegstreben. Ich wuensche dir viel Ruhe und Geduld bei deiner Arbeit und vor allem Erfolg!
Cool !!!! 🙂
Danke!
I Just ADORE the idea of land art and I loved your previous examples of that so…
CANT WAIT to see this piece!
Thank you Evelyn! Totally agree on the land-art idea. It is so much fun and really special. I have decided to focus much more on that in future. It is also a great way to get earthed and in touch with nature and your soul. Will keep you updated on the progress.
I just watched a Documentary over the weekend, a gentleman worked with ice and flowers and rivers to make his land art.
it was so amazing…
That sounds as if it could have been Andy Goldsworthy (an artist whose work I really admire.)
YES! It was so impressive. But it reminded me of you immediately.
The post and photos inspired an little afternoon poetry: http://www.indigospider.org/2012/03/19/circle-of-thorns/
Amazing, Thank you so much! You have such a talent and it is so exciting to see different kinds of creative outputs working in harmony! Please everybody reading this/my blog, go and have a look at Indigo Spiders link to read what she has made out of it!
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Cool! The tastiest pebbles were obviously on the inside of the circle :-). Love how the thorns look xxx
hahaha! i guess the poor thing choked on the pebbles. Thank you!