Voices by emerging experimental filmmaker Jodi  Lee.  Music by Edwin Gordon. See further details of the film on the Vimeo link.

v o i c e s from Jody Lee on Vimeo.

I went back to the fallen tree a few days ago, and developed my work a little bit further. Gathering and arranging the tiny fragments of pottery and china strewn all over the beach – I dropped, this time, into a slow repetitive rhythm of placing the pieces one by one, moment by moment.

Losing track of time…

I like working this way. I have a strong interest in Neolithic rock art, though since coming to live in North Devon, where there is almost none around, my focus has generally shifted from stones and rocks to the trees which prevail in this landscape.

I enjoy feeling that I am carrying out a similar sort of activity to our ancient ancestors, and probably for similar reasons. It feels warm, familiar and safe. I feel at home. In a weird sort of way it is a bit like how I feel when using my long gone grandmother’s rolling pin, or polishing her brass candlesticks at Christmas time.

What interested me, apart from the striking design that emerged, were the thought s and questions that drifted through my head… How and why did the first impulse to make art begin? How is it that these sorts of patterns are found in indigenous cultures around the world? What levels of memory am I operating within? I have a number of profound-sounding answers of course, that, as far as artistic expression is concerned, don’t matter one little bit. You might as well ask a bird what it thinks about ornithology!

I left soon after 9 to walk to the estuary. After several stormy days and nights, I had caught a glimpse of the sun, calling me out. Water was running fast down the steep track, washing away mud, exposing stones and rubble laid by previous generations to support their cart wheels. Nearing the river, I was shocked to come across a crater right across the pathway. A big tree had collapsed and fallen down on to the beach. I climbed down and made work there to mark the occasion.

I wanted to make a sign to mark the passing of the tree. I gathered together small fragments of pottery, earthenware, pipes, bricks, flower pots and best white china – all strewn across the little bay and almost indistinguishable from the stones – residue from the past that had been pounded by the sea for many many years.

Oh no, not another circle… I would have liked to have marked out something different – a tree shape perhaps. But this was what I felt required to make.

Afterwards I took photos, then left. But before leaving, I removed the circle and the seaworn fragments, leaving the beach as I found it. When a piece of work is done, it is done.

This image I found on the Lofar-uk blog gives a whole new perspective to life!

Image of the UK storm early in the morning of Jan 3rd 2012 from NASA’s Aqua Satellite (via @metofficestorms).  via lofar-uk.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

LOFAR-UK Station Damaged by Storms

During the night of 2nd-3rd Jan 2012, gale force winds over the UK resulted in some damage to the LOFAR international station UK608, located at the Chilbolton Observatory near Winchester in Hampshire. Wind speeds at the site exceed 60 mph (97 km/h) accompanied by heavy rain, as a major low pressure system began to pass over the UK.

And if you feel like a little bit of holiday reading, check out Tara Pappas’s delightful blog: Artful Explorations in Nature.   This is fast becoming an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the myriad ways we can engage with the natural environment through arts activity.

You might like to read her recent interview with me. Here’s a short extract:

TP:   “What inspires you most when you are in the natural environment?

LG:   I would say it is my feeling of connection with the earth and air, and all of its life forms.  It is not so much any particular aspects of the natural environment that attract me – the beauty of plants and leaves, the texture of stone or the strength of trees for instance.  All this is a vital part of my experience of course, but I am not setting out to look for these things – the beauty arises naturally out of my process of connecting”.

via http://artfulexplorationsinnature.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/interview-with-artist-in-the-environment-linda-gordon/

Wishing you a year of wonderful connections for 2012!

Looking out over the estuary this morning to the hills beyond, wondering whether to go out.

Rain, cloud, sun, Rainbow.
Blustery winds, Rainbow…
Sleet!
Dark clouds, sun, wind, rain, Rainbow.

I am walking down the steep-sided valley through dense tangled trees towards the beach at Peppercombe…

Strange how my strongest impression is one of silence, when all around me is sound: the distant sea roar, the wind playing in the high canopy and around my ears, the squelch of mud and rustling of dry leaves underfoot.

I come to an old thatched cottage, and wonder if it is made of gingerbread. I am attracted by the sound of trickling water, and look down over the little stone bridge, down through the ferns, to see a stream running and sparkling over roots and stones. A woodpecker drills a nearby branch, rapping out a drumbeat that echoes throughout the entire valley.

Great moss covered branches block my path, making me stoop low as I proceed.

I was struck by the fact that the system of drainage ditches, sluices and embankments was still working perfectly after nearly 200 years -creating fertile grazing land and a range of dry and watery habitats ideal for an abundant diversity of wildlife. I admired the skill and the understanding of those 19^th century engineers, and their care for future life.

Phragmites reed beds 

You can find out more about the natural history of Horsey Island on this pdf on the Explore Braunton site… Meanwhile this post is just a short personal record of yesterday’s Essential Nature art walk. And what an enjoyable and inspiring time we had, in crisp sunny November weather, with a slight breeze ruffling the surface of the estuary, wide expanses of sky, and flat green pasture, laced with ribbons of shining water.

Here are the ponds where Tarka the Otter romped and fought and feasted.

Walking along the embankment. Gorse in bloom, smelling of coconut. Later on we found wild carrot which smelled of… mmmm, carrots!

Anne found a bird’s leg bone. It had a numbered ring on it, so she noted it down, to report to the local branch of the RSPB.

So flat, and such an infinite expanse of sky. Sand dunes of Braunton Burrows in the distance.

Our walks are run very much on the “go with the flow” principle. Whatever happens seems to be just right for all of us. I love how, as we go along, we come together and then separate out into little groups of one, two or three, and how the conversation ebbs and flows, and how we move and pause, then move again as if at an unspoken signal.

We paused here, gazing across the wide water expanse of the Taw estuary towards Chivenor and Fremington.

It was a little cold for sitting around sketching or writing, so we opened ourselves to the sky and the land, the rippling water and gentle sounds all around. I took loads of quick photos, most of which, as always, got deleted when I arrived home.

As we moved around, here and there, we came across little stone shelters, known as linhays, built for cattle in the early 1800′s . They seem to fit so well in the surrounding landscape.

Below is part of the great sluice. Apparently the doors open and close according to water pressure – either draining off the fields or from the rising tide. (I am a bit vague about all this)…

Here are some sheep who crossed our path, being rounded up and driven to an enclosure to get wormed. When we passed them again later, they were all extremely quiet – maybe a little shocked!

Early on Michelle went off alone to find the sea. She is a movement artist and teacher, and was profoundly thrilled by her solitary experience of moving, clambering and jumping between rocks and across sand – exploring in her body the nature of being ‘in between’.

Here is one of her photos encapsulating the vibrant experience of ‘in between’.

CROW ISLAND photo Michelle Wilkinson

I run these walks once a month in North Devon, so if you would like to come along, just let me know. They are not workshops as such, so there is no charge. Basically we are a bunch of people interested in the arts of all descriptions, and in getting out into nature, exploring our local landscape and sharing our ideas and impressions.

Is there, or indeed should there be, a right or a wrong way to regard environmental art? I don’t think so. All of its forms are of value in addressing our relationship with the natural world, though it helps to be as clear as possible about the framework one is operating within.

Mel Chin falls into that aspect of environmental art that I inwardly call ‘Remedial’. (Just another label of convenience), though some might call him a conceptual and ecological artist, or a socially/ politically engaged activist or an interdisciplinary practitioner. Trained in traditional sculpture, his interests gradually expanded to include social concerns, and issues concerning ecology and sustainability.

Revival Field is an ongoing land reclamation project that Chin initiated in 1990 in collaboration with Rufus L. Chaney, senior research scientist at the US Department of Agriculture.

(Source: Vulgare )

The original test site was 60ft square section of the Pig’s Eye landfill in St Paul, Minnesota, contaminated with cadmium, zinc and lead and other unmentionables. A site so contaminated by 20^th century industrial practices that even today (2011) health officials are still trying to mitigate its deadly effects. General public access is not allowed.

The site was planted with a special group of plants, known as hyperaccumulators, that unlike most other life forms can not only tolerate the contaminated soil, but can absorb the heavy metal through their roots and leaves. The plants were harvested In 1991, reduced to ash and the heavy metal deposits extracted and analysed under controlled conditions. Since then, further plantings and valuable research have been carried out both at Pig’s Eye and other sites, the intention being that, over time, the contaminated soil will be transformed back into fertile earth, capable of sustaining a diverse ecosystem. The artist and his collaborators also hope that eventually the cost of healing toxic landfills with green remediation projects such as these will be recovered from the sale of the recycled heavy metal.

( Source : http://pruned.blogspot.com )

In Revival Field, Mel Chin pays rigorous attention to the poetics and formal qualities of the work. This, together with the development of what was, in the early 90′s, a new type of collaborative and interdisciplinary aesthetic, makes Revival Field a significant ongoing work of art. Art and science together are involving themselves directly with the problem, not only reshaping our conceptions of the land but ultimately transforming the land itself… changes that would not otherwise have been possible.

( Source : http://pruned.blogspot.com )

In 2006 Mel Chin and fellow artists visited New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to seek creative solutions to its devastating aftermath. He was appalled to discover there was a serious hidden problem existing since long before Katrina – lead contamination in the soil, putting thousands of children at risk of developing illness, severe learning disabilities and behavioural problems. He learned that 30 to 50% of the inner city children in New Orleans suffered from blood poisoning even before the storm – a figure he considered unacceptable.

And so began Operation Paydirt- http://www.fundred.org/about/operation-paydirt.php

Chin hopes to treat the soil so that the lead is locked into a mineral formation that can’t be absorbed by the human body, and then cover it with clean earth. The biggest obstacle of course is the enormous cost: 300 million dollars, and to assist the funding of Operation Paydirt, the Fundred Dollar Bill Project was implemented in schools across the United States.

What is the Fundred Dollar Bill Project? I can do no better than to quote from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.  from the Wikipedia article Fundred Dollar Bill Project, licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here.

“The Fundred Dollar Bill Project is a nationwide art project implemented by Mel Chin, and is aimed to connect and represent the voices of children across the United States, with the end goal to propose a funding solution for the lead contamination in the soil of New Orleans, Louisiana. Anyone across the United States and across the globe are invited to draw their own 100 dollar bills and send to collection centers, or schools, for safekeeping. During a nationwide road-trip in an armored truck, the Fundred Dollar Bills will be collected.

The completed Fundred Dollar Bills will be presented to Congress for an even exchange of U.S. dollars to help the remodificaiton of lead in the soil of New Orleans. This funding supports Operation Paydirt, which is the program that, once implemented, will make the lead content in the soil safe for inhabitants of New Orleans and cities affected by lead poisoning-across the United States”.

Home page for the Fundred Dollar Bill Project is www.fundred.org, , containing templates for drawing your own 100 dollar bill, and an address where to mail it… Plus there is information and video links, giving accurate information on the terrible effects of lead poisoning and explaining the whole project.

This one from a Maryland art teacher!

Fundred is an ongoing project, continuing through the 2011/12 school year, just until the 300 million dollars are collected. It is open to adults too, of all ages, and from any country.

I have mentioned a few other artists on this blog, who through their art are “fostering a new awareness of the importance of bioregions based on healthy, ecologically conscious approaches to living” (Green Museum). Artists such as Jean Paul Ganem, Lynne Hull and Alan Sonfist. With a little detective work on Google, it is easy to find other wonderful examples. All involve themselves totally with life as it is lived, and along with many types of eco and environmental practitioner, all are endeavouring to make this world just a little bit better.

I remember recently gazing at some sheep and wondering whether they ever got bored and frustrated with the continual necessity to keep their head down and carry on grazing.
The same question passed through my head as I was crawling around in the woods gathering leaves for this trail – and as I inched my way forward, nose to the ground, the answer came to me: no, this is what I do. It makes me feel alive!