In a forest called Høstemark Skov in Denmark, the biodiversity is breathtaking. A wave of multiple sounds hits you when entering the forest, and it almost seem as if they are composed together. The sounds contain a wide range of frequencies, rhythms and amplitudes, and the combination of them makes it feel incredibly alive and rich. The sight that meets you, consists of different kinds of trees growing wherever their seeds fell to the ground, no straight lines can be seen between them. The branches grow out of them in multiple directions, some straight, others curly, twisted or broken. All sorts of plants, fungi and mushrooms grow on many trees, adding more color and texture to the view. Many trees stand tall and alive, but many have also broken in half where the top has fallen to the ground. Some dead trees are leaning on another tree, others have fallen with the roots, leaving big holes in the ground, and in a few dead trees, new trees are growing. looking closer at the ground, it is also possible to spot dark-green and brown areas, where dead trees are turning into being part of the ground. All trees have been left like this, none of them are removed. This is the deal with Høstemark Skov: the nature takes care of itself.
This forest is one of the very few in Denmark where the appearance of it is not being controlled by humans. As an example, the dead trees are not being removed, which is highly important for biodiversity. It seems that many believe that dead trees should be removed. That they are ugly and good for nothing. They may be dead but they are still an important part of life, in that they take care of other lives and creates more of it. Inspired by dark ecology and Timothy Morton, this work is focused on dead trees. They may seem ugly, but ugliness must coexist with beauty. Chaos must exist with order, and as Morton wrote: “sense must coexist with nonsense, its shadow”.
To celebrate the dead - the ‘chaotic’ and ‘ugly’ - this audiovisual installation was made to create a space for embracing it. The installation consists of recordings from dead trees in Høstemark Skov, blind drawings of one of those trees, a sculpture of that tree, and a round, homemade carpet (3 diameters) to create a listening space.
A very special thanks to Jacob Kirkegaard for helping with bringing this work to life.
The sound work should be listened to with good speakers or headphones