Hi Ruth, The Plinth and Based on a Tree Story both look fantastic!
Parks -- especially urban ones, perhaps -- are so important as cultural and artistic places. They are very different from buildings, like museums, libraries, or theaters (all of which are great too in their own ways). It is extremely admirable to undertake projects like the Plinth which in turn make space for works such as Based on a Tree Story. Here in Minneapolis, both our major theater and our major modern art museum have art-oriented parks adjacent to their main buildings, and the city -- despite the recent devastating tragedies and longstanding injustices which can in no way be simplistically resolved much less obviated by culture or greenspace -- highlights the park system as both one of the best reasons to live here and something like a communal infrastructure of care, at least aspirationally but ideally more than that. One cannot help but hope culture and nature can somehow, in some significant way, support and foster sustainable change and progress in human society. Sometimes that hope can even gather into moments of Tan Jones' interesting phrase "optimistic dystopia." For whatever reason -- and with many caveats because I have never been to Finsbury in person -- this announcement reminded me of the original Globe Theater, in part because, oddly, references to plant and nature spirits call to mind A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and many other works from that era. I wouldn't ever advocate that the Renaissance of 1300-1600 (or 1450-1550) can or should be returned to, but there may be elements and parallels in common between that era and some of the crises or opportunities of today. The present-day Globe Theater is most certainly not the original, but a second renaissance, not the same one, could be underway. Of course there seems to be rather little agreement on what if anything should be renascent! 🙂 Based on a Tree Story seems to me to incorporate many of what may be core elements for art to focus on in the "second" twenties. A basic list off the top of my head, with apologies for redundant or ill-considered items: * Green or blue space -- the natural environment is part of art * Human well-being -- human health and wellness (bodily, mental, communicative, etc.) in all their forms pervade art * Non-human life-beings -- trees, rivers, fauna, are as central as the artist, theater, spectator, or polis in art * Geographic and geological location -- the idea of "space without place" from early cybertheory is never absolute, by either reduction or physics, in art * Blending of forms and media -- clay from the site, story, symbol, narrative, multiple perspectives, living plants, and the body have agency equally balanced with digital or other techne in art * Community of aesthetic -- the realities of political and economic justice, dialogue, and progress are equal partners in the life of art * History and recovered time -- factors as diverse as Proust in narrative and the neurologic basis of memory make the past present in art * Contemplative participation -- the viewer as participant has equal aesthetic agency and is not reduced to being a consumer or owner, nor is the producer or author role absolute in art * Independence of tradition -- any and all traditions, as well as adherence to none, have valid claim to agency in art I see all of these elements reflected wonderfully well in Based on a Tree Story. The way the work uses a "sprite" as guide and interlocutor is for me a very evocative and cohesive element. The word of course derives from the word for "breath," but also implies something like "life-being" (a term that occurred to me lately as helpful in contrast to "organism," by reorienting away from genotype or code toward phenotype or body-in-time). The ancient history of the word includes every scale on the spectrum between the smallest possible unit of life-being (something perhaps like the proto-Renaissance poet Cavalcanti's concept of "spiritelle") to the set of all life-being (sometimes capitalized, or personified as in "great spirit"). These concepts may offer at least a clue about renascence, because their ancient and prehistoric treatments have much to offer and are in no way inferior or irrelevant to contemporary thought. In fact, one could say that the reducibility of life-being to discrete organisms, enabled by genotypic bias, and hyperbolic faith in technology has run rather amok in present day civilization and might warrant some level of balance from the irreducible. Perhaps renascence is the wrong term for what I'm trying to articulate, but if it's not merely a technical invention what else can one call such an appearance? It makes little sense to me to think of replacing all of nature and the living environment with novel robots and software. Rather, to find sustainable systems that allow existing, infinitely ancient ecosystems -- of all forms -- to regenerate and regain viability is "more like it." From a literary perspective, the orientation of il dolce stil novo of Cavalcanti and others was urban-based -- in contrast to styles attached to specific courts -- and its embrace of the vernacular, prosociality, and music may also helpfully reflect today's priorities. How to go about sustainable regeneration is far from clear, simple, or easy, but it is more than worth the effort. In some ways, it is not even a question of whether elements of the past will be renascent but what elements will predominate and how their reappearance will unfold. What is happening "on the ground" in Finsbury seems to face the challenge with great dexterity and, perhaps more importantly, with sustainable energy. Congratulations and many thanks for these works! Very best, Max ________________________________ From: NetBehaviour <[email protected]> on behalf of Ruth Catlow via NetBehaviour <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2021 11:47 AM To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity <[email protected]> Cc: Ruth Catlow <[email protected]> Subject: [NetBehaviour] NOW LIVE! 🌳 People's Park Plinth 👾 | Hervisions x Ayesha Tan Jones Meanwhile on the ground at Furtherfield... Based on a Tree Story | Hervisions x Ayesha Tan Jones View this email in your browser<https://mailchi.mp/furtherfield/peoples-park-plinth-digital-artwork-now-live-10248692?e=b6ab26b568> [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/03b7aac9-2504-4d7d-a039-5b1384717fa9.png] <https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=030b3a309d&e=b6ab26b568> Welcome to the People’s Park Plinth! JUNE | Digital Public Artwork Based on a Tree Story Hervisions x Ayesha Tan Jones A site-specific, sonic augmented reality encounter with a digital tree sprite that tells tales of the tree's past, present and future. 🟣 Artwork live until 19 July and August 2021 🟣 [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/_compresseds/186302ea-50ae-7437-3dd9-96f6e0e83a1c.jpg]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=a2aa6284e6&e=b6ab26b568> Ayesha Tan Jones at Furtherfield Gallery. Photo courtesy of HERVISIONS. Based on a Tree Story opens a communication portal between visitors and a London plane tree dubbed the Trunk Triplets Tree, Furtherfield Gallery’s next door natural neighbour, allowing them to exchange stories and share wisdom. This encounter is produced when Ayesha Tan Jones’s work is activated through an augmented reality app, with the audience utilising their mobile phones to access the artwork and an audio experience. Once you are at Furtherfield Gallery, you will need to scan the People’s Park Plinth QR code and walk towards the tree with three trunks wearing an amulet - situated North of the gallery. Scan the amulet with your phone and it will reveal the Sprite of the Trunk Triplets Tree The Sprite is the spirit of the tree, it will teach you the rhythm to connect with the earth beneath your feet. 🍃 Follow the Sprite around the park as it unfolds the tree’s fable. If you visit this work at Furtherfield Gallery or via the PPP website<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=170abc67e5&e=b6ab26b568>, please share your experience using the tags @furtherfield, @hervisions_, @ayeshatanjones and the hashtag: #BasedOnATreeStory The People’s Park Plinth<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=84ae9d9d83&e=b6ab26b568> is a project that turns the whole of Finsbury Park into a platform for public digital artworks and asks people to pick their favourite experience to be produced at a larger scale in the Fall of 2021. [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/_compresseds/565529cd-a097-04ef-8045-5df46e467df8.jpg]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=1f17e2f25c&e=b6ab26b568> Finsbury Park Map by Studio Hyte [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/5efbeeda-4627-6941-c1a2-a6605eaf6fe7.png]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=dda96b7484&e=b6ab26b568> ABOUT THIS WORK Through a mixed reality experience, this work explores how new technologies can reconnect humans to their natural surroundings and allows us to imagine all other forms of life at their core. The tree’s fable was collaboratively created based on local research sources, site visits and discussions with Ricard Zanoli, Finsbury Park’s Ranger. For this commissioned ‘taster’ work, Ayesha Tan Jones initially hand sculptured the Sprite utilising clay found in the earth at Finsbury Park. Its form echoes patterns often found on the barks of London Plane trees. This sculptural work was then modelled into the three dimensional digital sculpture that appears on your screen when you access the artwork. This work is commissioned by HERVISIONS, a curatorial agency showcasing and supporting femme and non-binary artists. The first iteration of this work developed for The People’s Park Plinth, showcases the multi temporal stories of the London Plane tree. If selected in a public vote in August 2021, this artwork will be produced at a larger scale and the audience will have access to a spiritual trail around Finsbury Park, where clues will lead them to other local trees, Sprites and their stories. [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/ff70902b-0384-92b1-5767-26e76a7145d9.gif] <https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=29ca0bda27&e=b6ab26b568> Image: View of Based on a Tree Story at Furtherfield Gallery. HERVISIONS X Ayesha Tan Jones AYESHA TAN JONES [AKA YaYa Bones] work is a spiritual practice that seeks to present an alternative, queer and optimistic dystopia. They work through ritual, meditating through craft, dancing through the veil betwixt nature and the other. Ayesha weaves a mycelial web of diverse, eco-conscious narratives which aim to connect, enthral and induce audiences to think more sustainably and ethically. Traversing pop music, sculpture, alter-egos, digital image and video work, Ayesha sanctifies these mediums as tool’s in their craft. Selected recent commissions/exhibitions include: Shanghai Biennale (2021), Athens Biennale (2021), Solo Show at Underground Flower Offsite (2020), Serpentine Galleries, London (2019), IMT Gallery, London (2019), Mimosa House, London (2018), ICA, London (2018-2020), Cell Project Space, London (2018), Gropius Bau, Berlin (2018), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2016-17). Ayesha is represented by Harlesden High Street Gallery, London. https://www.ayeshatanjones.com/<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=2d7c75df75&e=b6ab26b568> IG: @ayeshatanjones<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=9c5d615b1d&e=b6ab26b568> HERVISIONS is a femme-focussed curatorial agency supporting and promoting artists working across new and emergent technologies, and platforms with a strong focus on the intersection of art, technology and culture. Hervisions partner with institutes, organisations and galleries to create antidisciplinary exhibitions and innovative commissions. Select partners include LUX, Tate, bitforms, arebyte and Google Arts and Culture. https://www.hervisions.world/<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=fa7897a4a6&e=b6ab26b568> IG: @hervisions_<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=d2b4328c12&e=b6ab26b568> TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIO HYTE is a South London-based design studio, working between graphic design, interaction, and emergent communication. Approaching branding, print, website, and exhibition design through progressive methods of engagement, they aim to create meaningful work that considers and responds to the social and cultural contexts it exists in. http://www.studiohyte.com/<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=ff2b1db071&e=b6ab26b568> IG: @studiohyte<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=07dcc4a598&e=b6ab26b568> [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/d900ea30-874b-5289-0a0a-38040f34fa68.jpg] OPENED IN MAY We are just animals, humans and machines getting on together in specific lifeworlds Breath Mark x Lisa Hall & Hannah Kemp-Welch Live in May and August 2021 [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/7e248c52-ae9c-42d3-b881-b2686a32a2eb.png] OPENING IN JULY Future Fictions of Finsbury Park Desree x Drumming School with Alex Dayo x Studio Hyte Live in July and August 2021 [https://mcusercontent.com/9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55/images/ce17e4fb-34b4-4eaf-8d23-e0e86f1c4dd4.png] [Twitter]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=b3f28ca4d7&e=b6ab26b568> [Instagram]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=a2d9454bff&e=b6ab26b568> [Facebook]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=afd89e5ee3&e=b6ab26b568> [Website]<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=d2f0d9b296&e=b6ab26b568> Copyright © 2021 Furtherfield, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Furtherfield Furtherfield, c/o The Staff Yard, Finsbury Park, Hornsey Gate, Endymion Road London, London N4 2NQ United Kingdom Add us to your address book<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/vcard?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=1ced09755d> Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences<https://furtherfield.mailchimpsites.com/manage/preferences?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=1ced09755d&e=b6ab26b568&c=e204213363> or unsubscribe from this list<https://furtherfield.us4.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=9d227b6380a87c752902c8a55&id=1ced09755d&e=b6ab26b568&c=e204213363>. 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