The following is taken from the secret manuscript of Alfred Jarry, the brother of Walter Jarry- a legendary offroad cyclist of Wellington, who from 1876-1882 could be seen in the hills around the city. It is a glimpse perhaps of relations between the two brothers, different but not dissimilar- for while Alfred was addicted to the speed and rush of Absinth, Walter was a risk taker of a different order, someone for whom "the beauty of speed" was equal to the experience of flying down a hill on his small bike. It is possible to say that Walter was in fact the originator of the BMX, in that he had made for himself an especially small bike, to match his own diminutive frame.

Excerpt from the manuscript:

"The doctor having taken occasion to park his sieve on the curb, and instructing his baboon faced assistant to prepare lunch with a slap to the neck, set off in the direction of the town. "Faustroll" he whispered to himself, "An epiphenomenom is that which is imposed upon a phenomenom, the whole foundation may be sand but dust still clings to your shoes."
It was at this point in his speculation that the doctor was surprised by the sight of a man, seated upon a bicycle and brandishing a riding whip while pursued by a group of hungry looking curs. "Faustroll" He mused to himself "How stupid those dogs must be, when all across France and indeed the civilised world, dogs along with children have learnt of the dangers of these new locomotor machines. Why would it be that these curs are seeking the shin of that unfortunate rider?" But as the offroader drew nearer he concluded "Haha, I see now that I have reached another epicentre- it is my brother, the antipodean." At which point he occasioned himself to hide behind another passerby suspecting quite rightly that his brothers predicament came from the leg of mutton, which protruded from his jacket."

The Diminutive Alfred Jarry

Alfred Jarry was considered to be the father of Absurdism , he lived in an apartment in Paris. He stood under 5 feet tall and as an Absurdist pioneer was happy that his landlord had lowered the roof of his apartment to half the usual height to make way for an additional floor, as an artist he was sad that the same landlord had not lowered the rent also. There is much that can be said about Jarry, but it does not concern public sculpture in Wellington.
It was in fact thru the auspices of the pataphysics research laboratory in London that we came across a manuscript which did concern us. Alfred Jarry was of course a well known playwright, much of his writing happened in the century before last. Thru secret connections in various Avant-Garde circles the research library came to hear of our efforts to uncover hitherto unknown psychic roots in Wellington, offering us proof of an extraordinary role that Wellington has played, almost since its beginning, in developing and nurturing lucid but hallucinatory notions of existence.

As a preamble to launching of our first monument , this Sunday outside thistle hall, at 5 o clock we will be reproducing segments of this previously unpublished Absurd manuscript - fully translated from its original French. But until then we leave you with this quote from the playwright, taken from his excellent essay - The killer pedestrian

"Now that, in our opinion, is an excellent, and for reasons that will become obvious as the circumstances unfold. In the year 1888 or 1889, tourists on bicycles or penny farthings were insulted, barked at, bitten and encouraged to topple over, until such a time as dogs, as we can see today, had acquired the habit of steering clear of the new locomotor machines, as they had previously learnt to do for cars. Canine education being now complete, the riding-crops and other defensive weapons of the cyclist of those bygone days have been thrown on the scarp-heap, like the tyre levers of the stone age."

Our first Monument

With the launch of the companion book to our project, we expect some individuals to have noticed its existence. Excitement is growing and with any luck our first Monument will be unveiled on the 17th of February. By keeping our nose close to the ground we have uncovered a striking and unusual character from Wellington's chaotic beginnings prior to the 19th century. We hope to adorn a popular thoroughfare with a monument to this "Pastoral Flaneur" as striking as that from the school of Permanent Monuments in our sister city to the North. Further submissions are being made to the cities planners and so we leave you for now, hoping you will return for further elaborations.

"We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace."

F.T.Marinetti - Futurist Manifesto 1909