So some of you will know that my last exhibition was a project on the Clootie Wells. It’s a 1400 year old shrine that’s been in use for both ancient Celtic tradition and more modern Christian. And actually both uses have coexisted quite beautifully for the last several hundred years.
I wrote about it here:
https://www.christi.photography/the-clootie-wells
It actually generated a lot of interest at the time and just as I was about to head off again to maybe create more work, as it felt unfinished…Well we all know what happened. 2020 happened.
It’s been something I’ve clung to, that once this is over, I’ll be able to return and finish my work. It’s also a place that bears some significance to me as I grew up around there and had a deep understanding of what the traditions meant.
Even though I’m not superstitious, I left a Cloot there myself alongside my family, when I became really ill. The things that people left there spoke to everyone else as well. A kind of collective “I’ve been there”. Some of those things were heart breaking. All of them told a story.
There were notes and prayers as well as treasured bits and bobs. Memorials and prayers for people young and old who had been lost or people had been desperate not to lose.
I found out today that somebody took it upon themselves to go in and clear the whole place. 1400 years gone like that.
I can’t fathom the arrogance and presumptuousness of a mind that would think that’s ok. It’s not the mind of someone that grew up there. I know that for certain.
I’m pretty devastated right now. Most insignificantly I guess I’m going to have to find a new project. But more important to me, I think the last couple of years have cemented and deepened in me a great distrust and pessimism as regards other human beings. This pretty much seals the deal. We’re far too beholden to the actions of people who are only concerned for themselves.
We’re living through the nadir of humanity’s ego.
