Hidden deep within the woods of Pickering Road Community Orchard, there is a secret place where the long-believed boundaries between the human and natural world dissolve. Tucked beneath a thicket of ageing trees, a rewilded trail leads to a hidden chamber, a delicate weave of manila and subtle energies. Few know of its existence, fewer still have felt its pull.
This ethereal chamber is said to amplify communication between the human and more-than-human realms. On moonlit nights when the orchard’s energies are at their strongest, the air inside shimmers with the whispers carried by the wind and shifting earth. Here, one can speak not with words but through the pulse of life itself, exchanging thoughts with the trees, the spirits of animals, even the seldom heard breath of the earth beneath them.
Legend also speaks of a magical cloak, crafted from the mist that rises from the orchard at dawn, that permits those who wear it to develop a stronger psychic resonance with the natural world.
When someone wrapped in the magical cloak steps into the chamber, they will find they can understand the speech of trees and animals, sensing their wisdom and ancient songs. Used together, these tools imbued with ancient knowledge reveal the voices of the more-than-human world, a language older than memory, waiting to be heard.
The natural world listens just as intently in these moments, sensing the receptive presence of the cloakbearer through winds and soil, the trees leaning closer as if hearing every unspoken human thought with crystal clarity. People report feeling a strange connection as the birds call back to them to them in cryptic melodies from rustling leaves, and they begin to hear the orchard breathe.
Some choose to meditate and listen in this special place, whereas others are inspired to write, draw or sing with their more-than-human kin. Yet no matter the means of dialogue, visitors say their experience of the chamber brings not only mutual understanding but a deep sense of belonging to the pulse of nature itself…
This story underpins a new interactive and site-specific installation in development at Pickering Road Community Orchard (presently called WILD DIALOGUE), by freelance Hull artist (and HERFoE Arts Lead) Lauren Saunders. She plans to unveil the project in Spring 2025 at both the Orchard and in an accompanying group exhibition in partnership with Feral Art School and GF Smith.
Across her work, Lauren collaborates with people and place to help both human and more-than-human communities share stories about nature and the climate crisis. Her work focuses on how direct experience, folk knowledge, and playful participatory storytelling can deepen nature connection, foster ecoliteracy, and cultivate a radical kinship with the natural world.
Things are progressing with this project – I have a clear outcome in mind now. I plan to create an outdoor installation at Pickering Road Community Orchard, which as described above, consist of a chamber (set) and a magical cloak (costume).
The biggest hurdle to cross at the moment is to get the shapes cut out for the cloak, but GF Smith have agreed to cut the shapes out on the CAD cutting machine. Once that’s done, the processing and making with be pretty straightforward, as will the installation at Pickering Road Community Orchard.
I’d also like to develop a song-based performance piece that accompany these tools… but I still feel a little at a loss of how to start that?
Here are some simple thoughts about this work though:
- I want to invite others to activate the artwork as an ongoing outdoor participatory artwork
- Use the work to develop more stories that can help with climate-nature campaigning and place-based kinship
- Use the cloak within other Orchard community festivals and ceremonies
- The Cube will remain as a stumble-upon artwork in the woods (site is regularly maintained to watch for wear and tear)
- Use this as an example to seek future funding for more ambitious or festival-based site-specific or participatory artwork in this vein
- As an example of a creative use of paper for social and environmental good
- When the cloak degrades beyond repair, bury at the Orchard.
