Alec Finlay

(U.K.) *1966 in Inverness, Scotland

Alec Finlay is an artist, poet and publisher. As artist in residence at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park Finlay has devoted himself to various art projects that link nature and contemporary culture as themes. Words and language are constants in his oeuvre, and his cryptic works always refer to them. In Bad Homburg, he sends the viewer on a twofold search: six black painted bird's houses are located at different places in the Kurpark. To find this expansive installation you need to give up the customary way of viewing art and instead look up into the trees. A verse is written in white on each bird's house. Each is a cryptic allusion to one of six clues from a crossword to be solved by the viewer – it is printed on a card that is part of the artwork. The six names are those of indigenous bird species who could thus of course be the inhabitants of these poetic bird's houses. Even if you do not find all of Finlay's houses and cannot solve all of the puzzle, you can enjoy the pleasure of the cryptic nature of words and language along the way.