Deep Encounters: Edinburgh

Deep Encounters is a Walking the Land project conceived of by Janette Kerr, and includes Zoe Ashbrook, Ruth Broadbent, Alison Berrett, Sara Dudman, Ffin(V C Price), Richard Keating, Melinda Hunt, Rachel McDonnell, Amanda Steer, Sally Stenton, and Molly Wagner.

Deep Encounters is a multifaceted mapping of a small piece of land involving artists working in different areas/location. At its centre is the perception of a space in a much more intricate way than normal.

Janette Kerr

There is a patch of woodland in the municipal park near my house where I will be walking regularly. It is in the middle of a residential area, overlooked by many tenement flats, and the trees in it have a view of the sea. To one side there is a newer coppice with smaller trees planted by the community.

Surrounded by grass and a playpark, it is well-used but not always respected, with a great deal of rubbish ending up there, one way or another. There have been burnings, graffiti and other damage done. There is a great variety of trees and other undergrowth, and I’m guessing that birds inhabit it and animals visit.

Although I have spent some time at Granton Crescent Park in the past, my aim is to continue to show it some appreciation – after all, it is the closest I get to countryside here in the city. Paying attention to somewhere changes me and it may even be that I change it, although I would not seek to interfere. I will get to know the place further – listening, watching, touching, smelling and even tasting. The landscape and I will be in a more continuous relationship, and who knows what will arise. It will be interesting to see what artwork comes through as the seasons turn and we get used to each other.

Place work… From knowing-about to becoming-with

Rae Wilcox @greengreenteas

I will add to this blog as the project progresses.