FINAL OUTCOME

This is an image of the oak I collaborated with – this image was taken last year with a series of photographs for a different project called ‘forever landscape’

FOR THE MARKER – Please listen to the audio alongside reading though the booklet at the same time

For this trial I decided to use an h5 zoom mic. Although it was a bit annoying to have to hold for me it is a very simple mic to use for this recording and didn’t need much attention. I chose not to wear headphones for the process as I wanted to directly hear the soundscape around me and not through the recorder.

For this trial, I started to walk into the woods from my house (which I didn’t record for the purpose of the listener as this would have made the recording over 30 minuets.) As I was walking towards the woods something told me to turn around and walk a different way. I then found myself walking to this Oak tree in the middle of the deer park. I had done a past project with this tree called my Forever Landscape, in which I create a multichannel experience sonically depicting my next life or my forever landscape. My family has lived on this land dating back to the 1800’s and I believe the land to be a reincarnation of their soul, blood and bones, so for me the trees on this land have been nurtured by my family bodies and ultimately becoming reincarnations of them. This oak that I ended up collaborating with, is the tree that I want to be buried next to in the form of a tree pod burial, where a seed gets planted in my body ultimately forming a tree. This oak will physically be joined to me though my roots for as long as the tree stands. I think my body guided me to this spot as to try to understand more about who my neighbour will be.

Here are images from the space in which I collaborated with :

In the recording you can hear me stopping at points to look at moss on the ground lichen on the trees and new buds growing on the trees and bushes. I go from walking on a track to walking into a little plot of woodland, this is me exploring the space around where the collaboration happened , as I investigate these things on the ground there is a lot of mic noise from me switching hands so I can inspect things – I didn’t want to think about if this would be an issue for the audio as that isn’t what this methodology is about, in the methodology I advise the practitioner to make themselves known to the recording. Throughout the recording you can hear me flicking through the booklet seeing what step is next. 

The breathing exercises that are repeated in the booklet are good signifiers of how far along I am and what page I am on. I chose not to speak except at the end where I said thank you to the more-than-human out loud. I also was quite ill when I was recording so you might here a sniffle or too.

On my walk to the collaborative space, I was draw to two objects for my offering to say thank you to the more-than-human at the end of the methodology. I firstly came across an oak leaf which drew my attention – I asked permission in my head before I picked it up. Then as I was approaching the oak I collaborated with, just as the stone track ended a small love heart shaped rock showed itself to me so I used both these gifts as my offering. When the methodology came to an end, and I placed these gifts on the trees roots I turned my back for a second to pack the h5 zoom away and as soon as I turned around it was gone. I took this as the tree accepting this offering.

Here is an image of the heart shaped rock that I used as my gift:

Some reflections from this trial were that I had a big sense of calming and fulness in the experience because I took time to fully inspect and greet my surrounding more-than-human collaborators. I found it interesting to note that pre me asking if it was alright to record, sonically there wasn’t much happening but as soon as I asked the leaves started to move and the wind became louder, it was as if the more-than-human around me was making itself be heard. It was nice to just sit and be with the more-than-human. I at no point was focused on what was happening in the recording and there was no intention to record anything in particular.

The recording ended up around 26 minuets and the actual collaboration lasted around 4-5 minuets. I think to be able to progress with the methodology I need to start trialling it out in unknown places and different locations to create a plethora or collative entries and see if the methodology needs any alterations.

Here is the finished prototype of the booklet:

The only things I changed on the writing of the methodology was taking out where is say ‘please take x amount of time’, the more I trailed it the more I realised that it isn’t necessarily good to put a time on experiences, I found that it is better for the user to feel natural endings and take their own time with things. The only additions I made to the booklet was the add the pages at the back called thoughts, observations, diary or collaborations and drawings. Where the user has blank pages to fill with their experiences. Then on the last page I added instructions on how to dispose of the booklet. These steps are provided by the seed paper company. As this is the prototype the paper isn’t yet the paper, I want to use in the final outcome so the instructions are just there for the next step.

As this was the first trial I did with the booklet my experience was generally positive. I liked how you only needed to flip the page to see the next step on the right-hand side of the page, this made the reading a lot easier. I found the font clear understandable and big enough for easy reading, I also liked how everything was set in the middle of the page, this just also added to an easier read. As this is the prototype the book is a big jagged and not as easy to flip the page towards the end due to the bulkiness of the previous pages. This is something that will be fixed when I recreate the booklet. 

For the booklet I used a mixture of strong card paper that I found at a charity shop and recycled paper I bought from the university school shop. For the binding I used some old string that I found at home. The paper in which the writing is printed on is reused paper. On some pages you might be able to see the ink on the other side from past use. I chose to print the writing for the prototype as I wanted all the words to be clear and some what smart. For the actual booklet the words will be printed on the page already, so I won’t have to use any glue or unsustainable methods or materials. I left both of the binding string ends extra-long as it enables the user to tie the booklet closed and also acts as a bookmark for pages. To improve I would like to expand of the intro giving a more in-depth chapter as to what the methodology is about and also expand on each subsection providing longer intros and adding influences and questions. I am also consider to create my own seed paper through a paper making process as to cut down on carbon emissions and allow for me to understand and replicate the process to a finer degree.

The attached audio for this project details my experience of using the methodology in my own practice. In terms of editing, the only thing I have done to the recording is add a fade in and fade out and left everything else as it was when it was recorded.

I have also attached a example of the wildflower seed bombs that will be included in the final booklet. My idea is to create a pocket on the last page on the booklet that things can be placed in, this will also be a holder for there seed bomb.

Here is a pdf document of the travel booklet page by page: