About

Forest explores beyond the trees – partnered with the archive based in at the New Forest Visitors Centre the project references antiquarian books and maps and works with new forms of visualising the landscape using digital and interactive technologies.

Forest invites the visitor to explore the changing textures of the land through seasons using an interactive map which displays an continually growing selection of images. The histories and anecdotes that accompany these locations are shared using the social media platforms Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/forestatripout) and Twitter (@forest_atripout).

The initial inspiration comes from revisiting Forest a film made by Julian Konczak in 1992 – an experimental work that depicted the experiential and subjective world of moving through the landscape. This romanticisation and framing of the landscape is a continuation of a historical timeline that links with William Gilpin’s Remarks on Forest Scenery and Other Woodland.

Revisiting the 1992 version of Forest  is driven by an interest in remaking and reversioning – the original was made using the most basic analogue technologies (film and magnetic tape) and the challenge became that of recreating an intuitive and expressive piece with digital technologies.

The world of film production and distribution undergone a paradigm shift in the last 20 years and the digital remake needs to be more than a simple act of replication in a new format. The project therefore makes extensive use of transmedia storytelling devices as well as the use of gaming technologies in the video installation element of the project.

A series of short videos that reflect the changing seasons of the landscape will be released via the website over the period of a year. These short films respond to some of the initial ideas in Forest (1992) and involve collaboration with the musician and sound designer Natalia Data  who will be drawing musical inspiration from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons  in creating an atmospheric sound design.