Natural-Born Forensic Clues / Buried-Treasure Growing Wild

Douglas Park

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Summarised autopsy estimate report findings:

Space-probe was sent out on an expedition to attract, capture, study, explore, colonise and harness weather phenomena and extraterrestrial territories. The main-body and fuel-tank were supportive base to a curved archery bow of copper cable, stretching a tight soaking-wet silken cord, with similar sail and flag, while holding aloft an umbrella of the same materials and a steel spike at the very peak.

Certainly, land was discovered and meteorological forces were caught - only not quite in the sense or of the kind intended, planned or hoped for. Because, instead, simultaneously - solar terrain got landed upon - and a thunderstorm lightning bolt targeted and struck this hapless and ill-fated craft. Needless to say, all hands on deck went down - or up - still, no salvage can ever be claimed - though not for lack of trying - and those desperate and prepared enough to attempt wouldn't give up that easily - and there's always exceptions to rules, the ones that get away and slip right through nets.

Left staying behind were sickly, weak, lame and dying dunes, valleys and craters (without mountains, hills, haystacks, mounds or gopher shorings). Local flora and fauna made an effort and did their best to manage and even survive somehow or other. However, the harsh difficulties, challenges, hostility and hardships on offer (available for sale, leasehold, rent and hire) usually proved to be near impossibilities. Refrigerated jets of flame and burning icicles stubbornly persist and flourish there to this very day - and seem set to continue doing so beyond, into the furthest and most distant of futures and eternity lying ahead.

For all that, the devastating impact from this sudden, intense and concentrated power-surge brought about many changes and improvements for the better; providing blessings-in-disguise - albeit hard-won and heavily mixed privileges.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - and never mind the incidental and tiresome details of how and why etc: such terms and conditions developed a festive parade of armoured military vehicles and carnival-floats; each carriage, a different house, farm, shop, place-of-worship, museum, academy and institution etc; conscripted regiment had to line up, in an orderly queue, standing in a row, present and correct; waiting their turn to become next link in vast daisy-chain pearl-necklace covered-wagon ghost-train; more itinerant Noah's Ark zoo menagerie than travelling circus; as much fairground-ride as industrial-estate.

Entire articulated snake could twist and circle, often forming an infinite figure-of-eight - that would chase after, catch up with, swallow and consume

• but mostly miss and lose their own desirable, though elusive tail.

So much for and enough for now of approximate post-mortem enquiry towards establishing probable and likely causes. The rest (subsequent consequences etc), will forever go down into history to forever remain the supreme ultimate in well-known common-knowledge unsolved-mysteries of all time.

Copyright, Douglas Park, 2005

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1st appeared in 2005, as running-commentary throughout, Lightmachine 003 / Peter Buggenhout, edited by Lieve Laporte and Jan Mast, Richard Foncke Galerie / Kunstonline, Gent. Then in 2006, as preface text (English / Flemish, translated by Gregory Ball and Dirk Verbist) for, Sincerely, A Friend, Peter Buggenhout monograph, on the occasion of De Res Derelictae (Dingen Zonder Eigenaar - Objects Owned by Nobody), retrospective, curated by Koen Leemans, de Garage / CultuurCentruum, Mechelen