folly!!
inside, looking up...
...installing 'folly' in the woods
Coed Hills is a 'bubble' of existence. the longer I stay here, I'm sure that my 'usual' life would become the 'other' life. a blur.
the recession, celebrity gossip, global economics...whatever...they don't seem to have any relevance here. this is a way of life that, within a century from now, is inevitable that maybe we all should aspire and progress to. sustainable, self sufficient...look after the small things in life & the bigger stuff will take form. this is not a cliché. you have to experience this place for yourself.
a twilight view over the Vale of Glamorgan
Friday... finishing my final weave
for the best part of the past few days my hands have been covered in lanolin from the raw wool I'm using - greasy stuff with a strong odour, basically sheep oil. anyway, after another day in the workshop, this evening I took a stroll to check out Coed's very own druidic stone circle...
renewable energy x2... brilliant!
sunday to tuesday it seemed to rain almost constantly, yet now it has passed. the woods feel more peaceful again... & my tent is dry!
inside, looking out...
this evening the cows escaped! someone left one of the main field gates open. many of the Coed folks ran off into the far fields to try & round them up. I can hear shouting, barking & mooing in the distance!
I don't think I've ever experienced my daily life so close to nature before. my little blue tent seems so insignificant in amongst the green wildness of these woods. there are good views over the Severn estuary from up here in the Vale of Glamorgan.
although rather labour intensive, my wool weaving is progressing well. a family of swallows have nested in the roof of the workshop barn & the parents seem to keep a watchful eye on me as I weave...
a yurt in the mini woodland village
Coed Hills & its residents have made me feel rather laid back. its atmosphere & spirit have that effect. for the past 48hrs I've just been getting a feel for the place, however this afternoon - keen to make a start on my work - I ventured into the workshop. after setting up the loom, I began to work with my wool...
my loom…
the workshop barn. over the next week, I'll be spending alot of time in here
introducing... some of my new friends!
the folks here are achieving a wonderful 'ballance' with the land. so peaceful here. it will take me a couple of days to adjust. pitched my tent in the middle of the woods. surrounded by larch & ash trees. the woodland floor is covered with moss, ivy, and wild flowers. right, I'm off to explore now...
As sea levels rise and rivers flood the lowlands, in the future will we retreat to the hills and build our follies amongst the trees? Is it just folly and ignorance to harbour the belief that we, as humans, exist independently (as superiors) and separately from nature?
Low-impact, site-specific, organic matter.
folly – an intervention created in the woodland at Coed Hills. Made of wool sheared from the sheep (the Suffolk breed) on the neighbouring farm, folly will be built amongst the trees, becoming a site for meeting, performance, ritual, meditation and possibly even a new micro-habitat for wildlife.
folly is inspired by my interest in rural land-use and how we as humans are not just manipulators and users of the land (for better or worse), but are actually inherent elements in the ecological system. Land that is left un-grazed and generally isolated from human husbandry will eventually, over time, return to a woodland state.
As such, folly will be a physical speculation on the past, present and future environmental conditions of the land at Coed Hills, ambiguously mixing-up ideas of physical occupation through open/enclosed space and organic materials.
The purpose of folly is for it to create a new space, an ‘enclosure within an enclosure’ and a physical point from which people can explore and engage with the woodland environment in a potentially new way.
The work will present an ambiguous but playful position on the creation and habitation of indoor/outdoor space in the natural environment – creatively investigating animal and plant relations in the wider ecological context of Coed Hills.
.jpg)
preliminary sketch for the design of folly
inside, looking up...
...installing 'folly' in the woods
Coed Hills is a 'bubble' of existence. the longer I stay here, I'm sure that my 'usual' life would become the 'other' life. a blur.
the recession, celebrity gossip, global economics...whatever...they don't seem to have any relevance here. this is a way of life that, within a century from now, is inevitable that maybe we all should aspire and progress to. sustainable, self sufficient...look after the small things in life & the bigger stuff will take form. this is not a cliché. you have to experience this place for yourself.
a twilight view over the Vale of Glamorgan
Friday... finishing my final weave
for the best part of the past few days my hands have been covered in lanolin from the raw wool I'm using - greasy stuff with a strong odour, basically sheep oil. anyway, after another day in the workshop, this evening I took a stroll to check out Coed's very own druidic stone circle...
renewable energy x2... brilliant!
sunday to tuesday it seemed to rain almost constantly, yet now it has passed. the woods feel more peaceful again... & my tent is dry!
inside, looking out...
this evening the cows escaped! someone left one of the main field gates open. many of the Coed folks ran off into the far fields to try & round them up. I can hear shouting, barking & mooing in the distance!
I don't think I've ever experienced my daily life so close to nature before. my little blue tent seems so insignificant in amongst the green wildness of these woods. there are good views over the Severn estuary from up here in the Vale of Glamorgan.
although rather labour intensive, my wool weaving is progressing well. a family of swallows have nested in the roof of the workshop barn & the parents seem to keep a watchful eye on me as I weave...
a yurt in the mini woodland village
Coed Hills & its residents have made me feel rather laid back. its atmosphere & spirit have that effect. for the past 48hrs I've just been getting a feel for the place, however this afternoon - keen to make a start on my work - I ventured into the workshop. after setting up the loom, I began to work with my wool...
my loom…
the workshop barn. over the next week, I'll be spending alot of time in here
introducing... some of my new friends!
the folks here are achieving a wonderful 'ballance' with the land. so peaceful here. it will take me a couple of days to adjust. pitched my tent in the middle of the woods. surrounded by larch & ash trees. the woodland floor is covered with moss, ivy, and wild flowers. right, I'm off to explore now...
As sea levels rise and rivers flood the lowlands, in the future will we retreat to the hills and build our follies amongst the trees? Is it just folly and ignorance to harbour the belief that we, as humans, exist independently (as superiors) and separately from nature?
Low-impact, site-specific, organic matter.
folly – an intervention created in the woodland at Coed Hills. Made of wool sheared from the sheep (the Suffolk breed) on the neighbouring farm, folly will be built amongst the trees, becoming a site for meeting, performance, ritual, meditation and possibly even a new micro-habitat for wildlife.
folly is inspired by my interest in rural land-use and how we as humans are not just manipulators and users of the land (for better or worse), but are actually inherent elements in the ecological system. Land that is left un-grazed and generally isolated from human husbandry will eventually, over time, return to a woodland state.
As such, folly will be a physical speculation on the past, present and future environmental conditions of the land at Coed Hills, ambiguously mixing-up ideas of physical occupation through open/enclosed space and organic materials.
The purpose of folly is for it to create a new space, an ‘enclosure within an enclosure’ and a physical point from which people can explore and engage with the woodland environment in a potentially new way.
The work will present an ambiguous but playful position on the creation and habitation of indoor/outdoor space in the natural environment – creatively investigating animal and plant relations in the wider ecological context of Coed Hills.
.jpg)
preliminary sketch for the design of folly
an artist residency project
Coed Hills rural artspace, South Wales
http://www.coedhills.co.uk/
James Brady
18 - 27 July 2009
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