Conversations with a Forest: Programme – Moving Image Makers Collective

Our 10 participating artists:

Richard Ashrowan | Tender Divinations | in Forest 1
A set of Ogham staves gifted by the forest, each one cut and carved, with tenderness, from a specific tree of significance for the artist. Each stave holds memories and properties at once personal, cultural and contemplative. The carved wooden staves are then used in a system of divination – by casting them to the ground in groups of three – to deliver instructions for both the making and projecting of a film. This form of divination is a kind of reaching-out-into-the-world in collaboration with tree sticks, and will also be used to guide my interactions over the period of time in which I inhabit the forest with other artists.

Dawn Berry | from THE BLACK SUN to LUMINA NATURA in the Glasshouse

Jessie Growden | I am Tall Meepa | on the Glasshouse main screen and in Forest 1

Tall Meepa invites you on a tour of the Black Shroud, one of the great forests in Final Fantasy XIV.
Read more about Tall Meepa here.

Jane Houston Green | Beyond the Routes | on the Glasshouse main screen and Forest 1

Beyond The Routes explores the idea of what we feel and hear versus what we see and, in its simplest essence, is bringing images of trees from other parts of the world to a group of trees standing in a specific spot. The individual experiences of these trees will be unique as it is for every living organism. Yet it also questions how we achieve a sense of belonging and acceptance – where feeling rooted can be a way to find that elusive quality of quietness and peace.

Kerry Jones | Somewhere.Everywhere.Anywhere. | on the Glasshouse main screen

Kerry Jones | Found Somewhere, Anywhere, Everywhere | in Forest 1

Cut-up assemblages of small objects, belongings, moving image, sound, found and looked for snippets of conversation.

Sukjin Kim | The Song of the Wind in Forest 2
Sukjin Kim, Haein Song, MARO, Ritti Soncco

From an Island forest in Korea a wind song approaches awakening the spirits of a Scottish forest.

Douglas McBride | Waiting for Godot | on the Glasshouse main screen

The town becomes the home of birds leaving the forests. All wait for something – what they do not know?

Douglas McBride | Starling | in the Glasshouse

Starlings were called the “poor man’s mynah” in Europe and Great Britain. Why? Because they talk, they converse. It is known that many birds, including Starlings, learn the communicative song of their flock. It’s also widely accepted that these sounds have a pattern and meaning, with different “words” used to relay consistent concepts among the flock. Starlings don’t seem to mind if their adopted flock is a human one. They, like their wild counterparts, pick up the flock’s language and often use it appropriately.

Douglas McBride | Cosmos | in Forest 1

‘Arriving to a forest is a culmination of a journey. One makes connections on a journey. Sharing the discovery one makes during the journey can be shared. The forest is a stand’ of individuals interconnected by common understanding. To come to the trees and share those experiences and find poetry in that understanding is the goal.

Jason Moyes | mycorrhizal connection network in Forest 2

You are the human operator. You are connected to the mycorrhizal network. Allow your fears to be captured by the trees. They will be acknowledged then released to circulate and dissolve among the ferns, mosses and lichen.

Nicoletta Stephanz | Analog? | in Forest 1
Nicoletta Stephanz, Recordings from Sounds of the Forest

Noun: analog
a person or thing seen as comparable to another

James Wyness | The Sigh | on the Glasshouse main screen
A short film which examines the limits of cultural agency by alluding to environmental and ecological conflict. One side of the problematic conversation ends in a tale of confessions, apologies and remorse. We need the forest more than it needs us.

James Wyness | The Confessional | in Forest 1
A site-specific performance consisting of light, sound moving image, performance, readings.