North of Stavern, between Sjøparken and Lillevik beach there's a tiny cove that tends to collect driftwood from Larviksfjorden and Lågen River. it's a matter of currents and wind and each time i visit there is a variety of newer and older arrivals
clearly the older ones farther from the water's edge have been there for years
the longest is a log that i have seen many times but never really inspected closely. mostly i look for wildflowers or newer driftwood with interesting shapes or texture
but yesterday i noticed that the log was full of inscription like traces made by insects when the log still had bark. i'm not sure what insect made them, there are many species of beetles that live under tree bark. i am quite sure that these markings are not made by the feared european spruce bark beetle with the curious scientific name Ips typographus
the designs are not repetitive or unvaried like one would expect of typography. no they are far less planned or predictable
so they must be from a less pestilent insect living only in dead trees and having an important role in the ecology of a natural forest
but i want to focus more on the spontaneous character of the design, nature's calligraphy
or dare i say art, communicating something our logic is not prepared to decipher
