When the roots are exposed

In The Spell of the Sensuous David Abram explains “ …it is all too easy for us to forget our carnal inherence in a more-than-human matrix of sensations and sensibilities. Our bodies have formed themselves in delicate reciprocity with the manifold textures, sounds, and shapes of an animate earth…” In this work I am exploring what it means to relate to the more than human world. What would it mean for there to be personification of this world and how could that foster and deepen our relation to it. In the process of making this work I visited this immense tree every day, I climbed up on its sides, I examined its roots, I touched its soft skin, I let it hold me. It began to become more and more alive to me. It became a friend. I wanted to imagine what it would mean to play dress up with this new friend, to adorn it with ribbons and colors, to dress it for a party. This work became not just sculptural but a durational performance of regular visitations and a relational experience, hopefully one of reciprocity.