Nate: Thoughts on the forest…

I have some thoughts about the forest as well. I have taken down some notes. Pardon the incoherence of some of them; they’re just thoughts—a stream of consciousness about what the forest and trees mean to me.

What the forest means to me…

• Nature in urbia — nature vs urbia — the constant struggle, but life always finds a way (thank you, Ian Malcolm of Jurassic Park)

• trees > forest > frontier > new territory, unexplored, uncharted, unchartable (maybe because it is so ever-changing?)

• wild > untamed. maybe untamable?

• alive / life

• faerie — another realm, elfin creatures, fairies, ancient, old, timeless, mystical, wondrous (I really like this form of thought—magical creatures unseen to human eyes, finding ways to survive in the forest. They are so good at living in the forest, that we can never see their effect on the trees/forest. It’s also an interesting way that people of old times explained what science explains today. I don’t know. It just strikes a chord in me—which is why I really like fantasy writing.)

• medieval views on the forest — evil; haunted; scary; off limits; people get lost, taken – never to be seen again (I like this, as well. It was once thought that the forest was evil or haunted. It was where the idea of faerie came into being. The brothers Grimm and countless others based many of their stories on this notion that the forest was evil, scary, and off limits. Our knowledge today has hampered those fears, but I think that we still want to believe that there is still something unknown and not pertainable [yes, I made that word up] about what lies beyond the edge of the trees.)

• dead trees — home / food for living, life in death, cycle of life

• ecology — balance, interaction / interconnectedness of species

– types of trees > deciduous vs evergreen

– lifecycle of a growing forest – from sapling to old growth

I have many, many more thoughts about what the forest can mean in the urban landscape—forests contained within a city. There’s one very close to my apartment. We should take some time this summer to explore it. Even Mount Tabor is a great example of such a contained forest. You might even be able to argue that the forest is contained within urban parks and that while it is limited, life has foraged a way in that harsh, rude environment. Trees put up with a lot of crap in the city.

What we could make…

installations

• hang twigs / small branches from ceiling, form a path in them, audience involvement

• possible sound on loop : animals, wind, water, branches snapping / breaking, fire crackling, rain

• seasonal photos

– winter > snow, ice, weight, resilience, strength, hibernate, perseverance, danger, blank

– spring > sprout, new growth, stirring, emerging, melt

– summer > settled growth, constancy, persistence, fully awake, gathering

– fall > fade of growth, not stagnation, settling of life, preparation, mustering

These are just some thoughts about what we can do and make.

I have more thoughts coming.

We can come up with names as this progresses, but I am really liking ‘Nor’wester’ or ‘Frontier’. I like ‘Nor’wester’ because it is like noreaster, a powerful storm. It is like a certain kind of strength that the forest contains. It is resilient and not easily tamed. I like ‘Frontier’ because the forest is a new discover at every turn. It renews itself. Life exists without intervention—at least it should. I find that it can be soothing to discover new things, to appreciate life away from the city. I prefer ‘Nor’wester’ over ‘Frontier’, but we will find our voice over the next few months to get a solid theme down. I think we should each come up with 50 or so names, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs—anything, really—that can mean ‘forest’. The forest isn’t just a noun; it’s also a verb—a thriving place of life and unexpected perseverance through trials or humanity’s exploitation and invasion.