QueerQuest #2

The Green Challenger

Location: Three Shires Head

An Animated Character
Geocache Artwork

Google Streetview Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xoVBwfNWr5G5G1UJ9
Geocache code: GCBE1WQ

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It is new year’s even when the Green Knight bursts into the court – a figure of raw, untamed nature, both alluring and terrifying. Their very existence defies simple categories, a formidable challenger who is part-human, part-mythical, part-plant, strong and ancient.

Gawain takes up the Green Knight’s challenge. Have you ever felt drawn to something or someone ‘other,’ something that escapes easy definition or turns out to be a different kind of challenge than what you thought it would be?

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Artist statement: focussing on the unknown, mythical figure of The Green Knight,

this piece takes inspiration from the epic poem itself as well as popular readings of this formidable character – part human, part mystical power from the natural world, fluid in self and potent in ability, who is The Green Knight?

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A visitor to our stall at Pride In The Moorlands described their love of this place; “Here there is a certain quiet, then crashing with sound.” We felt that this summarises very well the moment of transition from known to unknown, experiencing the exhilarating fear of moving into unchartered territory, and a waterfall as a powerful example of how something serene can quickly gain an unpredictable force of its own.

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On February 25, 1884, Oscar Wilde delivered his lecture “The House Beautiful” at Leek’s Temperance Hall. In his speech, he championed the importance of using objects that were both beautiful and useful in the home, criticizing the era’s mass-produced, dull, and pointless decor.

LINK: https://moorlandsoldtimes.blogspot.com/2015/02/oscar-at-nicholson-1880s.html // https://olgbtstoke.org.uk/1883-oscar-wilde-visits-staffordshire/

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“My experience was that in the church choir, the boys brigade, it [homosexuality] went on… but I knew that you had to be careful in adulthood. It was a ‘phase you’ll go through’… I remember quite distinctly being told that ‘this doesn’t mean you’ll turn out to be homosexual’.”