It may strike the traveller that, in some countries, it is almost incongruous to enclose one’s property, when in some other, the opposite is taken as an evidence. Let us take a closer look – of course there may be a psychological or social dimension in these differences … my fence isolates me from strangers, as it may make a difference with my neighbour, hence these quarters where more or less disparate fences mostly look like catalogues of building companies …
Of course, the horse must stay in, as well as the dog, the grandchildren and so on, not forgetting keeping the wind out. Of course, it also gives me the time needed to readjust my makeup when a visitor rings at the grid …
But what interested me more, is how and with what materials fences are made. Depending on these, you quickly discover what are the most available local materials (wood, stone, reeds, bamboo, and so many other …). Let us take for example the fences in some slovak villages that reveal that in a near past, there was a cutting plant whose scrap with stunning shapes have found a new life, thanks a cheap paint. Or the recycling of sewing machine legs in former textile towns. Or the impressive Swedish stone walls by which farmers cleared their fields from massive and agriculture unfriendly impediments. It is mainly in such types of fences that I have found exceptional aesthetic qualities and creativity that largely surpass their sheer functional character.
