Bugatti-Bench

In his park Little Sparta, artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay created a Gesamtkunstwerk in which sculpture, poetry, and nature form a unique symbiotic relationship. In his somewhat formally reduced entry to the Neandertal-Kunstweg, he also manages to casually bring together these three levels and provide the viewer with a holistic experience.
The artist installed a simple stone bench along the edge of the path where there once was a ford in the Düssel River. A hiker might pause here, look at the river, and read the strange inscription carved into the seat of the bench: “BARE STREAM RACING LIKE A BUGATTI.”
This inscription is enough to make the viewer do a double take. No interpretation is provided, encouraging passersby to come up with their own ideas. One might sit down, cluelessly stare out at the river and wonder about the bold comparison between the flowing water and a legendary historic race car. With that, the next step is complete: the quote, as with Finlay’s entire body of work, has inspired a connection between the perception of nature and art, just as emotional feeling and rational thinking are brought together in this moment of reflection.

References: de.wikipedia.org, www.mettmann.de
Further reading:
Katalog zum Kunstweg MenschenSpuren, eds. Volker Friedrich Marten and Gerd-Christian Weniger, Mettmann, Neanderthal Museum 2002.