It's so wonderful to meet other fans, and potential fans, of Finlay's odd approach to poetry.
Late in the 1970's (when I was living in London) I had the spectacular good fortune to visit an 'event' version of the Finlay / Clark
Battle of Midway.
The seven combattant aircraft carriers are represented by live beehives in an approximate echo of the actual orientation, with the sea between replaced with rose standards in planters. The whole thing is housed in a pro-tem conservatory (as it needs to be, there are bees all over the place).
I'm not normally a fan of conceptual art, but Midway is unforgettable.
After you've been in there for quite a long time, you notice that some of the hives have a single joss-stick smoking next to them. Those are the carriers which were fired, and lost.
It is embarrassing to cry in public; but sometimes it is worth it.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/...idway-i-p07932