Monument Game

Monument Game presents a multidimensional depiction of a place, and when played collectively, creates an open, multi-layered visual space. It presents the riddle of how a Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana,) came to be planted on a small island in Loch an Eilean, Askernish, South Uist around the time of the Highland Clearances.

Monument Game, 2014, comprises of a set of playing cards, presenting fifty-four botanical photographs taken during a field research trip to the island (2012), accompanied by a written text. The text has been fragmented into separate passages that can be understood lyrically or as elements of a narrative.

Participants are invited to play the child's card game 'Go Fish'. Following the revised rules of the game, the text is read out aloud to fellow players. The goal is, to subvert the usual format of a reading group by generating a convivial, shared experience through the playing out of a game of chance that may or may not lead to comprehension of the text.