Sheaf + Barley: Rune Set for Forespeaking

Runes, discovered and given to humans by a god, descending from the Phoenecian alphabet, were imbued with a material significance and aliveness in a way that modern writing is not. Although an alphabet, people did not use them to record and document. Instead they inscribed them at boundaries and other significant sites as symbolic and magical totems. Inscribed on twigs, or small chips of wood, they were also read as omens, which guided people’s actions and decisions. Unlike the Latin alphabet, each runic character had its own signification, with which hidden messages could be left, riddles posed and language games played, and mnemonic poems created.

Rune Set for Forespeaking (2018)
Sheaf+Barley
Ash wood, dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist

Online Ash Archive