‘Experience’ Nature
Brief - Experience time in nature and generate audio material and an image. During the nature solo students recorded their thoughts using a dictaphone. After the nature solo students created an experience image within 48hrs.
Analysis
Students were required to find a space outdoors where they could sit alone for one hour, positioned where they could not see another human being. They were restricted to only using audio recording equipment, disarming them from their usual tools of cameras, sketchbooks, drawing materials etc. This was in order to encourage them to be more observant, mindful and connect with their surroundings, not just document it.
Students were required to find a space outdoors where they could sit alone for one hour, positioned where they could not see another human being. They were restricted to only using audio recording equipment, disarming them from their usual tools of cameras, sketchbooks, drawing materials etc. This was in order to encourage them to be more observant, mindful and connect with their surroundings, not just document it.
Generally, students talked about what they felt. Some found the time alone ‘challenging’ or ‘uncomfortable’. Some enjoyed ‘head space’ and feeling calm. Some referred to a sense of scale of the space around them, feeling small, gaining perspective. Comments included “we play a massive part of the ecosystem, and how we affect everything...” and “You can’t help but feel small… You can’t help but feel insignificant”.
There were visual descriptions of colours, shapes and textures, and then suggestions and questions about the appearance, causes and formations of certain natural features like plants, woodland and rock. The images were generally represented with muted colours, little evidence of human interaction, and contained visuals of wind, rain, organic forms, birds and textures.