Curt Finks (not his real name), my late father-in-law, was well known to a small group of loyal followers at the Edinburgh Fringe (1970s and 1980s). What is not so well known, until recently, is that he also wrote short stories and submitted them to literary journals of the day. You can find a fuller history of one of his stories – Brent Goose Rock – in the Kompanion Volume to my book. While unpublished, and indeed uncertain whether it was even considered by the editor, the story survived the closure of the literary journal, and was returned in its original “snipped” form to my husband Ali.
The envelope containing the story arrived a few days later, and was left unopened while we debated the next step. Ali opened the envelope in his study, calling along the hall of The Manse for a tray when the contents spilled out. We read the accompanying letter again, with its “suggested order”. The intention of Curt Finks was that the reader would reconstruct the story, using the “snips” which had a number on one side (1-400) and a word on the other. The tiny pieces of paper measured 24mm by 4mm, and appeared to have been produced on a typewriter, with pencil marks to guide cutting.
We spent two evenings painstakingly recreating the story, turning over the snips to read their number and putting them in order. There were heart stopping moments when we appeared to have lost a snip, only to find them under the tray, stuck almost magnetically to another piece of paper, or once turning round on the wheel of Ali’s desk chair. I took notes as he did this, neatly reversing the roles of the protagonists of Brent Goose Rock.
The Benefaktor and I discussed how to recreate the interactive component, after typing in the words. Between us we snipped up ten copies for recipients of my book. But we ran out of time, so others had to recreate their own version of the interactive tale, asking a friend to snip up the numbered sheet on their behalf and put it in the envelope. We talked about Banksy’s self-destructing art. Another kommentator noted parallels with Bill Drummond’s work on Richard Long’s A Smell of Sulphur on the Wind. After such effort we wanted to share this more widely, so recreated a version for social media, recording our own solution for posterity.
GANTOB
18 October 2023
GANTOB blog 