In this new audio-visual experience, we invite you to step into the forest and explore the inner world of the trees.
An atmospheric soundscape, feathered, pink botanic, by acclaimed artists Jez riley French and Lau Nau will immerse you in a hidden world, revealing microscopic vibrations and secret sounds inaudible to the human ear.
Discover the sounds of Beechenhurst’s trees, plant life, soil and insects. Listen deeply to how the forest interconnects and allow the sounds of nature to transport and stimulate your senses.
Combined with lighting by leading artist Ulf Pedersen, The Secret Sounds of Trees invites you to experience Beechenhurst in a totally new way.
The Secret Sounds of Trees is a free, timed entry installation from twilight through the evening. Booking essential!
Please note: this event encourages a quiet, deep listening experience.
Duration: the whole experience lasts approximately 30 minutes.
When booking tickets, choose a timed entry slot to enter the installation. Please arrive at the entrance 10 minutes before the timed entry slot you book for.
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY
Would you like to get more involved in supporting this event? We are looking for volunteers to help with stewarding. Find out more here.
Forest bathing with Carina Greenwood
Why not start the weekend gently by deeply immersing your senses in the forest atmosphere, guided by a licensed Forestry England, Forest Therapy Guide?
Carina will be leading a Forest Bathing session on Friday 22 September, 10.30am.
Meeting at The Dean Heritage Centre, Camp Mill, Soudley, GL142UB.
To book and for more information: email carina@forestbathe.co.uk
To find out more visit: https://forestbathe.co.uk/ but you must book via email. Advance booking essential.
DIRECTIONS & PARKING INFORMATION
The Secret Sounds of Trees is located at Beechenhurst, Speech House Rd, Coleford GL16 7EJ.
Visit Forestry England's Beechenhurst webpage for full details on how to find us and parking information. Please note: parking is free at the Beechenhurst car park for this event.
ACCESSIBILITY
There is step-free access to the event. Please note, there is a sloped incline into the wooded area and the ground is uneven within the wooded area. There is a pedestrian gate at the entrance to the event. Visit the Accessibility Guide for Beechenhurst for more information on accessibility at the site.
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY
Would you like to get more involved in supporting this event? We are looking for volunteers to help with stewarding. Roles will include stewarding the car park, checking tickets, stewarding the installation space and collecting audience surveys. You will need to be available from 6.30pm-10pm on one or more of the evenings. A travel and refreshment allowance will be provided. Steward roles are available on a first come, first served basis. Find out more and sign up here.
OUTREACH
We are working with local partners to offer local community groups opportunities to engage with the installation and connect with nature at Beechenhurst. More details to follow.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jez riley French
Focusing extensively on sound as both material and subject, Jez riley French’s work involves installation, intuitive composition, scores, film and photography. Alongside performances and exhibitions, Jez runs workshops, gives talks and has developed a range of specialist microphones and techniques now widely used across sound culture, including recently on The Green Planet. He also works as a curator and publisher. Aspects of his work have been exhibited or performed in events and installations alongside that of Yoko Ono, Annea Lockwood, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sarah Lucas etc, and at galleries including Tate Modern, Tate Britain and MoCA (Tokyo). www.jezrileyfrench.co.uk
Lau Nau, aka Laura Naukkarinen, is a Finnish composer whose music is imbued with an idiosyncratic, finely honed sound world. Her palette often consists of modular synthesisers, singing voice, traditional instruments, reel-to-reel tape recorders and field recordings. To date Lau Nau has released nine albums on record labels in Europe, USA and Japan. Lau Nau is also known for her music to films and multi-channel sound installations. In her role as a sound designer she won the Finnish State Prize for the Performing Arts 2021. She has toured abroad for over 20 years, playing in venues such as Super Deluxe in Tokyo, the Lab & Castro Theatre in San Francisco and Blank Forms & Issue Project Room in New York. https://launau.com/
Ulf Pedersen
Architectural in scale, Pedersen’s work transforms the act of looking into a physical experience. Through a kind of light-based alchemy, outdoor spaces metamorphose into something unique and magical. In addition to working closely with the raw materials of the site, he uses light and colour as his essential tools. He has shown his work at Arts Festivals in Sydney, Hong Kong, Hobart & Wellington, as well as at national gardens and historic properties in the UK including 5 years of successful consecutive solo shows at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. www.ulfpedersen.com
The Secret Sounds of Trees is commissioned and produced by Sound UK. Funded by Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and PRS Foundation. In partnership with Forestry England, Cinderford Artspace and Wilde Earth Journeys.
Thanks also to:
Matthew Barnard at Hull University.
Lin (@tump.willows) & Bella (facebook.com/belakielt) willow arch makers and The Willow Bank
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