Jerwood Open Forest commissions launch across the country in October

Jerwood Open Forest commissions launch across the country in October


On 11 February 2014 it was announced that Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) and
Chris Watson collaborating with producer Iain Pate had been awarded two major new commissions
totalling £60,000 that will be launched to the public through the inaugural Jerwood Open Forest
initiative this autumn.

Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Forestry Commission England are now delighted to announce that the ambitious projects will be realised in October in two of England’s public forests, Alice Holt Forest in Surrey, and Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland.


These two significant new works, a sculpture and a multi-channel sound installation, explore art in the
environment and what it has the potential to be. The commissions exemplify the ethos of the Jerwood
Open Forest initiative, highlighting the scope of how contemporary visual artists are engaging with the
environment today.


“We have relished working with these exceptional practitioners on the creation of such distinct
and ambitious commissions, and we look forward to engaging audiences with these diverse
new works.” Shonagh Manson, Director Jerwood Charitable Foundation & Hayley Skipper, Curator of Arts
Development, Forestry Commission England.


Jerwood Open Forest was launched in 2013 by Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Forestry Commission England, with additional support of public funding through Arts Council England’s Grants for the arts programme.

The initiative invited artists working in any discipline to respond to the possibilities presented by the incredible landscapes of the Public Forest Estate.

Semiconductor will unveil their first ever public sculpture at a carefully selected site at Alice Holt Forest in Surrey. The spherical piece is based on one year’s worth of measurements of the take up and
loss of carbon dioxide from the forest trees collected from the top of a 28m high flux tower located
nearby in Alice Holt Research Forest.

Their work considers scientific data as a means of understanding the environment, and explores the relationship between how science represents the physical world and how we experience it. Through a process of re-contextualising the data, it becomes abstract in form and meaning, talking on sculptural properties.

The work will be unveiled on 22 October 2014, and will be open to the public for years to come.


Across three evenings in late October (24, 25 and 26 October 2014), Chris Watson and Iain
Pate will produce a multi-channel, spatialised sound installation featuring the remarkable, and seldom
witnessed, conversations of thousands of ravens returning to roost. Hrafn; Conversations with Odin will
take place in Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland, with one performance each evening over
the three days.

Watson’s composition will immerse audiences in sound over an hour and a half in the twilight, starting with the calls of distant ravens and concluding with a full raven roost overhead. The work anticipates and celebrates the return of these powerful voices to the forest, making a connection back to Norse mythology.

This is a unique experience for audiences to discover the lore and legend of ravens. Tickets are free, booking is essential, please book through jerwoodopenforest.org

For further details about Jerwood Open Forest and both commissions please visit:
jerwoodopenforest.org


For further information about the Jerwood Visual Arts programme please visit: jerwoodvisualarts.org or
follow Jerwood Visual Arts on Twitter: @JerwoodJVA #JOF14

 

Jerwood Open Forest commissions launch across the country in October

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