Glimt 2025: Tranekær-cairns, Chris Booth
‘Tranekær-varder’ (the Tranekær Cairn) shows how land art retains its aesthetic integrity, even through the process of decay
Tranekær Cairns is listed in TICKON by Chris Booth in 1998. Chris Booth was born in 1949 (New Zealand) and has done site-specific work in Australia, USA, England, Ireland and Italy. One of the two original Tranekær cairns can still be seen.
The aesthetics of decay
The two cairns were built around long oak poles driven into the ground. In New Zealand it is traditional to build haystacks around such stakes and the artist Chris Booth who is from New Zealand, used oak stakes as the centre of his stacks of branches that are pressed together by a boulder, which has had a hole drilled though its centre.
The one cairn that still exists consists of small branches which are slowly decaying and thus bringing the stone down towards the ground. The other cairn, of which the carved stone is the only part still remaining, decayed more quickly as it only consisted of thin vertical poles.
Chris Booth’s works are always site specific and are often created with stone. His artworks therefor always make a very powerful impression. During the time he spent on Langeland he was very inspired by the island’s prehistoric past.
Glimt 2025
The Light Festival in Tranekær from 1 November to 14 December 2025 is open daily from 16:00-21:00. The work can be experienced throughout the year in TICKON. More information about the Glimpse Festival at www.govisitlangeland.com/glimt