At Eich Coed / Tree Sense
A multi-disciplinary exhibition
AT EICH COED / TREE SENSE brings Pontio and staff and departments of Bangor University together, drawing on Bangor University’s position as the UK’s leading centre for research and education on trees, their conservation and management. Resident artists and art commissions are a key element of the project, that combines art and science to explore many perceptions of trees through a series of creative installations, discussions, workshops and performances.
The exhibition will encourage visitors to take a different view of trees, including their form and diversity, the health benefits of trees, their contribution to a sense of place, how trees can mitigate climate change, the effects of climate change on trees, and how humans have used trees throughout our history.
Manon Awst, Pontio Public Spaces Creative Co-ordinator said,
“It’s been a privilege to work with all the artists and different departments within the University on this project. The variation of art forms and content of this project is sure to appeal to a wide audience, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished products.”
John Healy, Professor of Forest Sciences at Bangor University and member of the steering group said,
“In the exhibition, we are celebrating the role of trees in our lives from every perspective, from the science of forestry and conservation, through health and wellbeing, to history and the arts.
Trees form the structure of forest habitats that have the highest biodiversity on earth, have been the stage for the evolutionary history of primates, and have played a key role throughout the development of human civilization. They provide us with the most renewable material for our shelter, locking up carbon in the wooden structure and furnishing of our homes. Bangor University is the UK's leading centre for research and education on trees, their conservation and management.”
Following an open call for commissions and resident artists, the following artists work will be on display in Pontio’s public spaces over the coming months. Anthony ynohtnA’s scultpture ‘Euler’ will be hung in Pontio’s main atrium, made of wooden posts which form a helix, the form reminds us of the presence and influence of humans in every aspect of our environment. Utopias Bach, a creative collective, invites you to explore personal and communal relationships to the human and more-than-human world during their residency. Joe Roberts is an artist, metalworker, and environment sector strategist, and presents ‘Everywhere at once and nowhere in particular’ centred on the last remaining Yew tree at the site of Eglwys Llanfair Garth Branan, the medieval church that sat in the grounds of Bangor University. During Molly Macleod’s residency, she will explore the rare Menai Whitebeam, a critically endangered species of tree which is only found in a small area by the shore of the Menai Strait, in the Nant Porth Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI).
Contributors from Bangor University include, Amy Gresham and Heli Gittins (+ Coed Lleol) from the School of Natural Sciences, Anna Monnereau and Lucy Finchett-Maddock from the School of History, Law and Social Sciences, Kathryn Davies from the School of Ocean Sciences / Treborth Botanic Gardens, Catherine Walker and Kate Randall from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Caleb Nichols + Briony Collins, Lina Davitt, Judith Samuel, Sarah Pogoda and Zoë Skoulding from the School of Arts, Culture and Language.
A special display ‘For Dom, Bruno & the Amazon’ will also be presented, in memory of the journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira who were murdered last year while researching the Amazon.
The exhibition will open on Friday 3 March, 5.30pm with live performances as well as artwork and research. A programme of events will be held over the coming months, with children’s workshops, poetry performances and Art Kiosk Night. More information on all the events can be seen here: https://www.pontio.co.uk/online/article/AtEichCoed