Wasserwirtschaftliche (Water management)
A residency in the Lower Oder Valley, Germany where I considered the role of human activity in the shaping of land through the concept of Ingold's 'taskscape'.
Ingold recognised that to work a landscape is to 'shape' and thus 'entask' it [1]. I thought about this as I explored the riparian forest of the Lower Order Valley National Park. I was keen to see the new system of riparian buffer zones that had been created to avert the problem of town flooding, and the natural forest regeneration that was rekindled . I experienced being among the elm and oak trees and the wildlife and birds now attracted there as a result of this symbiotic approach to urban land and water management.
With permission, I set up an outdoor studio beside one such buffer zone, to make a series of drawings on paper using lichen ink and bark dye, and other drawing materials. Wasserwirtschaftliche, 2017 (9 x 1000x540mm), recorded my daily encounters with the inhabitants, terrain, and climate of the locality, presenting a fusion of experiences and relationships between the variety of animate and inanimate agents enmeshed within the taskscape of the water management system.
