This blog post exists purely because as I was writing 150-200 words for the Collective Feral Padlet, I wrote FAR too much because that’s apparently what I just do lol. So here’s the uncut version!
For a long while I felt an overwhelming sense of stuckness due to a variety of reasons, but I’m now in a place where I’m building upon my MA research into environmental kinship and human:non-human creative collaborations.
I realised that it’s a bit too much of a jump in perspective for most modern, Western audiences to get fully on board with what I’m pushing for (i.e. respectful, equitable kinship with the natural world) because they haven’t gone through the years of thinking and feeling that I went through to get to that point. Therefore, I feel the next steps in my practice are around using stories and creating aesthetic experiences that offer audiences a clearer and accessible ‘route in’ to nature connection. Folk myth-making and song now feels an important element of this.
I’m wanting to work on a few things simultaneously now (I tend to take a holistic approach of working on lots of differing-but-related-things and trusting they’ll come together later):
- Using sustainable materials and processes (I’m thinking paper-based), I’d like to build an outdoor, accessible nature connection amplification ‘portal’, in which individuals (myself or visitors) engage with it in order to both ‘hear’ the voice of the natural world better and be heard themselves by it. This ambitious project, full of fun storytelling and novel myth-making, would help people to both meaningfully connect to the Land and/or process their existing relationship with it.
I’d like to develop a performance piece specifically for within this space – most likely song, movement (within the means of my disability) and spoken word – but participating audiences could activate it the ways that make most sense to them personally – through music, dance, ritual/offerings, meditation, reflection (e.g. Letters To The Earth), privately or to an audience/landscape.
The portal – complete with a series of artistic props/costumes, and optional instructions – can be used for a wide range of solo and participatory performance and reflection in a variety of indoor and outdoor environments, and be adapted to tie in with local myths and storytelling should it ever tour.
I know sets, costumes, props and ritual allow people to access the more vulnerable and spiritual sides of themselves, and will help nurture transformational thinking about the Earth! I’m looking into platonic shapes, as there’s already beliefs/storytelling about how certain shapes concentrate the power of certain elements (and environments), and I can weave in existing site-specific folk storytelling to develop a more powerful narrative.
I have two potential sites to install this temporary artwork (as it will be paper-based and this won’t last long outside)… however, the biggest barrier I have to this at the moment is resourcing it material-wise. Which is why I’m hoping G F Smith will offer the paper/card needed to make it a reality!
- I’m really excited by using mycelium as a material – and how I can build with this material to make large scale, biodegradable sculptures and set-pieces. Existing research has used straw or sawdust as the growing substrate, but I’m thinking that paper pulp/fibres could also be used instead? I’ve been thinking that this is an avenue for
I have support from Threads in the Ground and Hull Musical Theatre Company if I were to find funding to explore this as set/sculpture, but my biggest barrier to this currently is having somewhere to a) grow the mycelium substrate (there are concerns about spores in the shared Feral space) and b) having an ‘oven’ or metal cabinet big enough to cook the material when it’s reached the right size. I plan to incorporate these costs should funding become available, but in the short-term to experiment on even a small scale – I don’t have resources.
Examples of mycelium sculptures from Threads in the Ground projects.
- I want to build my seed ball back up. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for the last year but struggled space-wise. I still have a vision for it’s living sculpture potential (again) and the positive legacy it will leave on the local biodiversity if it gets to live in an outdoor public space.
Image credit: Andy Gilliat
I’m struggling a bit with motivation still (I work well to briefs and deadlines but I’m lacking any meaningful ones…) BUT I’ve got clear ideas that excite me and that I want to push forwards with – which is a big step forward from even last month. Chatting through things with my fellow ReWilders deffo helped, as well as acknowledging that I should just direct my attention towards the things that really excite me at the moment (which is song/performance) rather than trying to reawaken the things that I’ve already researched and explored to death. It all builds on itself anyway, doesn’t it?
I’m continuing with my Permaculture Design Course, which I’m enjoying and I’m finding influential in my thinking… and what’s really exciting is that I should be getting a little contract to do a permaculture garden/ritual space at a local community orchard later in the year – which feels highly relevant to my wider practice.
I’ve also been applying to some commissions and residencies etc again (tipping my toe back in after my brutal rejection period in Winter/Spring) – but all rejected so far. I’m genuinely feeling a bit low on the resilience demanded of a practicing artist… But instead of trying to fit myself into other people’s visions (which I find can be limiting – and occasionally more virtue-signally than actually wanting to create change…), I know I need to just apply to independent funding to do the amazing, ambitious things I’m desperate to realise instead. There’s an ACE bid that’s gone in for what would be an amazing nature/participatory project across September-October, so FINGERS CROSSED WE GET THAT BECAUSE THAT WILL GIVE ME SUCH A BOOST (as well as income…) but there’s other things I want to do as well… So finding cash for fun shit is on my to-do as well.
I’m interested to see what the universe throws my way next…!