Origin story: Montauk 1990
Wiggly-line, 1990, styrofoam, straight pins, graphite
I have never had the problem of “too many ideas and not enough time”. Truth be told, it could be argued that I don’t actually have ideas at all but tend to work towards some unknown sparked by the environment or, more often, materials I might find. The process began by accident one sunny morning while I was attending the Glasgow School of Art. On my way to Hyndland Station I came across a large pile of leafless box hedge on some wasteland. To this day I don’t know why but I stopped and ended up staying all day. By day’s end I had a 3’ tall nest. There was no idea, no intent , I followed a direction the twigs suggested. Something out of nothing. The next morning I lifted the nest on my shoulder and took it on the train to the school. Everything changed.
In September 1990 I attended the Edward Albee Foundation in Montauk, New York, a month’s long writers and artists residency program. In Montauk the ‘box hedge’ was a half dozen lobster buoys washed up on a stony beach. A lobster buoy is about 15” long and 5” in diameter with a hole down the middle to accommodate a rope which is then attached to the lobster trap. The buoy is the marker on the surface of the water that allows the lobsterman to locate his trap. In keeping with my lack of preparation I had forgotten to bring any tools with me so I went to the kitchen and found a bread knife. In another drawer were some straight pins. Naturally, with that kind of knife, I cut the buoy’s like bread which rendered a table’s worth of styrofoam bagels. Nothing! I then cut the bagels in half and then quarters and then thirds. Suddenly, something! Laid end to end the sections of the buoys naturally drew a meandering line and each time the line was built it took a radically different route. It felt like a game. Soon the styrofoam wiggles were fastened to the wall with the straight pins and the Wiggly-line was born.
The Wiggly-line wasn’t a game but it did have a set of rules governing how it should be installed and the rules were designed to include chance to insure it would never be installed as the same line. There were game like elements from day one.
For the next ten years the ‘Wiggly-line’ was on occasion exhibited, frequently featured in drawings and was occasionally rendered in other materials. In 2000 there was a conscious attempt to make an actual game; smaller segments were cut from car wash vinyl and a rule set was written and edited . Within a few months it was abandoned.
The final stretch began 17 years later. I don’t remember why. Perhaps I was throwing stuff out and came across the segments. Some sort of penny dropped. Seven years later after multiple name changes, endless rule rewrites and the patience of over 150 play testers the Wiggly-line finally became what it seemed like it was in 1990. A game.