Letters from the Hawkesbury spell out scrabbled smiles
Dangar Islanders are a creative bunch.
After setting off on my regular walk around the top of the island recently, I encountered their latest creative contribution, and it made my day. I chuckled for most of my walk.
To explain, I have to go back quite a few years. Islanders were challenged to create art objects for a community sculpture walk, which was a huge success. While few of the creations remain, one continues to provide amusement and fun. Here is where I admit to my own contribution.
Dangar Island is a forested island in the Hawkesbury River.Credit:Steven Woodburn
Neither a sculptor nor an artist but keen to participate, I hit upon an idea that was well within my capabilities. Taking inspiration from the game of Scrabble, where each player uses seven tiles to create words, I set to work on an interactive piece.
I painted each letter of the words DANGAR and ISLAND on 12 10 cm x 10 cm pine tiles. Two additional blank tiles made up the set.
The guard rail around a neighbouring electricity transformer provided the ideal site for the two ‘racks’ on which I arranged the tiles to read DANGAR ISLAND with two blanks and waited to see what would happen. It wasn’t long before creativity surfaced.
Unlike Scrabble, there are no rules. Words don’t have to be spelled correctly for the meaning to be clear. I was thrilled when someone realised that letters don’t have to stay in their normal orientation.
Rotating letters opened the door to additional creativity. An upside-down ‘A’ becomes a ‘V’ or at a stretch ‘Y’. ‘D’ rotated 90 degrees can be used as an ‘O’, an ‘N’ on its side becomes ‘Z’ and an inverted ‘L’ converts to a ‘T’.
More recently, the addition of a couple more letters on the reverse of the blanks has provided variety and greatly increased the number of words that can be created.
While Scrabble requires one word from seven letters, here on Dangar, players don’t confine themselves to two words. Short sentences or statements often emerge.
I often hear small groups gathered around the “Scrabble†working out their words for the day.
Visitors and young children seem to prefer the original words “DANGAR ISLANDâ€, while others write ‘messages’ to DAN or GRANDAD. I’ve seen “GRAND ISLAND†and “SAND LANDâ€.
After hearing teenagers taking selfies and laughing at their contribution, I discovered their contribution â€" “VAGINAâ€.
Recently during NAIDOC week, the letters read “DARUG LAND†perhaps disputed as factually correct, but a worthy sentiment.
With the current COVID-19 crisis, words often reflect how people are feeling. When an extension to the lockdown was announced, “AND IT DRAGS ON†resonated with many.
Politics have now entered the arena with “HAZZARD STALâ€.
That’s what prompted me to chuckle out loud.
Joanne Karcz is a Dangar Island resident.
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