Spin by Nathaniel Rackowe
The art exhibition reveal took place between Thursday 6th & Saturday 8th April 2006, displaying new works created from light and sound in a selected area of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail at Beechenhurst, near Coleford, Gloucestershire.
The evening event attracted around 2000 viewers over the three nights, who were delighted by the unusual experience on offer. Smoke machines, kinetic sculptures, strange film projections and haunting audio works evoked a new interpretation of the forest. Artists Andrews, Daly, Dowlatshahi & Rackowe showed new works created especially for reveal.
Despite erratic weather, the works were enjoyed by all, bringing many visitors to the area - some travelling from London, Plymouth, Sheffield and beyond. The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust believes reveal represents a new approach to commissioning for the trail, showing quality artworks in a rural environment to a new audience.
The works created by Nathaniel Rackowe for reveal transferred urban, structural work to a woodland environment, providing a challenging juxtaposition of form with forest. Lights in moving boxes which travelled slowly up and down between the trees acted as scanners of their environment and the audience too. A calmness pervaded the surrounding space, as viewers stood transfixed by the movement.
Works by Tabatha Andrews offered up another link with the built environment, but this time as potential portals to another world or place. Projections of strange abstract flashes and quivers created a visual transformation of the trees, inviting viewers to enter at their own risk. With Dowlatshahi and Daly responding to the industrial history of the forest, none of the works slipped into the romanticism of the area, which often happens in woodland environs.
reveal - a review
It’s the morning after the first night of the 3 day event which is reveal. Approximately 500 people walked through the forest together in small groups, stopping occasionally to gather around a work, to stand and stare collectively, often in total silence. They seemed to be mesmerised by what they saw, particularly noticeable when the arrival at the work had involved a specific journey – a walking down an avenue, such as that leading to Tabatha Andrews’ first work, ‘mesh’, or to step tentatively off-path, to move carefully between the suspended lightboxes by Nathaniel.
With regards to physical impact, Katayoun’s smoke work definitely dominated the area of the forest it was installed in. As you approached, first you saw the smoke and silhouettes of the audience, seemingly gazing down into something. As you drew closer you began to hear the dripping sound of the water. Only when you approached the edge of the viewing area did you become immersed in the soundtrack. This work created a very strange sense of presence – clearly having industrial references, yet always playing on the edge of theatre and spectacle. It implied a romanticism associated with the mining history of the area, making a cynical reference to ‘heritagisation’, whereby industrial remains are consigned to become mere museum artefacts. What was once hard, physical, graft now entertains an audience, creating awe and spectacle. The soundtrack was recorded down in Clearwell caves and reminds us of how waterways are not only created by geographic factors, but also by man-made interventions in the landscape, mineshafts fill with water, creating underground pools. The partner projection work exposed the inner surface of the mines, highlighting the rich colouration of the ochre pigments. This work was projected onto a flooded ‘bell-pit’, a hollow formed in the ground by open-cast mining, whereby a ripple in the strata has made access from above much easier than going underground. However, these bell-pits often joined up with shafts below, creating a fragile fracture, which is vulnerable and prone to collapse. A reminder that in the Forest you are only tentatively located on the surface and that there is another world below you.
Next along the trail was a very experimental work by Nathaniel Rackowe. Having teething problems, the work was not entirely complete on the first night, yet still created a strong presence of architecture between the trees. What appeared to be a line drawing was suspended high in the trees, lighting up in layers, only to fade out again and return to darkness. When this work was tweaked it rewarded its audience and it’s creators for the ambitious commitment that had been invested in it, a remarkable prototype whose future I, for one, will follow with interest.
Further along was Nathaniel’s kinetic lightwork, a piece similar to previous works which have been installed in white cube gallery environments. It was completely different amongst the trees and evoked an almost reverential quietness in the audience. Approaching the site and not seeing people standing on the path, I was disappointed at first that no-one was there enjoying it. But, in turth, many people were there, standing silently amongst the works, little conversation, just watching and listening as the beams of light scanned the space. The stillness of the people contrasted with the slow movement of the boxes, drawing attention to the work and the localised sounds of creaking and nightbirds.
Leaving that work, one began to see a series of lights amongst the trees. As you progressed, more appeared, and some were very close to the side of the path. You could hear footsteps through the undergrowth, which circled around you, crunching and pacing, following the route marked out by the lights. As you approached the end of the path, the sound got louder - you could even hear someone splashing through the stream and climbing the bank. You noticed that the lights are miners lights, with metal battery canisters attached to posts below the beam. Laura Daly brought back to life the experience of the miners of Trafalgar Mine, the work became a haunting, yet felt friendly and familiar, never ominous.
As you walked up the hill beyond Laura’s overground trail, you began to notice the trees were lit up on the side of the path. Maybe it was simply ambient lighting? But you soon realised the trees had a particular colouring, the trunks loaded with what appeared to be ochre pigment – a link with the earlier works you had seen at the beginning of the journey, in the pool. As you approached the higher part of the pathway, you noticed flickering lights scanning the trees on the left – Tabatha Andrews created a huge, panoramic triptych using digital projectors. A freak electric storm, a spotlight with random programming, flashed and moved, illuminating the trees in a dramatic way. It was familiar yet unnerving – so close to weather but clearly something else. Spending sometime looking and trying to make sense of it, it was easy to forget that you were not alone and not participating in a film set.
It seemed as though the journey was over, a further climb, then a steep winding path back down towards the lodge followed, only to be startled by a huge black hole expanding and shrinking next to the pathway – a terrifying portal creating a black abyss into which you could easily fall. The trees became a screen, the film became a virus, disrupting expectation, confounding the viewer about what it is they are witnessing. An apt end to an exhibition, which was primarily about the experience of the forest at night – with a few very pointed interruptions. And back to the car park, to reality and yet another drive home through an extraordinary environment, which will never be the same again.
The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust gratefully acknowledge financial and other help from: Arts Council England, South West; Forestry Commission; Rural Renaissance; The University of Gloucestershire; Forest of Dean District Council; Creative Partnerships
Further articles online: Axisweb
