TELL IT TO THE TREES

Tell it to the Trees

Project:	Tell it to the Trees
Client:	Meadow Arts
Date:	01 July 2009
Duration:
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The client, Meadow Arts a visual arts commissioning organisation, approached Ogle Models and prototypes Ltd to use their model making expertise to meet thier requirements for a sculptural installation for a forthcoming exhibition. The sculpture was of a human figure on a plinth with roots of a tree growing out from underneath. The root structure would have been very challenging if it was not for the investment Ogle has made in the latest SLS Laser Sintering equipment which is capable of bringing complex and fine structures to life. The statue and root structure was brought alive by SLS and the client wanted strong magnets inserted into the structure to allow for various installations. Press release: Tell it to the Trees A yearlong exhibition at Croft Castle, National Trust, Herefordshire 11 July 2009 - 15 September 2010 Press event 10 July 2009 Ancient woodlands, a mysterious picturesque valley, an intimate walled garden and a Gothick Castle are the setting for 'Tell it to the trees', a year long exhibition of contemporary sculptural installations and paintings at the National Trust's Croft Castle in Herefordshire, from July 2009. Nine artists have been invited by visual arts commissioning organisation, Meadow Arts, to make or show work that is inspired by man's relationship to trees. The artists are Mariele Neudecker, Philippa Lawrence, Brass Art, Laura Ford, Juneau/projects and Clare Woods The work will be installed in the Croft parkland, the walled garden, the early 19th century stables and the Castle itself - a highly romantic building constructed in the early 17th century in medieval revival style, Croft lies on a beautiful hillside on the Welsh border, where ancient woodland and magnificent beech woods meet modern forestry plantations and an iron-age hill-fort. Croft's parkland contains more than 300 veteran trees. In particular it contains an extraordinary group of Spanish sweet chestnuts and English oak planted in the mid 17th century, reputedly to commemorate Britain’s victory over the Spanish Armada. The art works themselves will highlight the conservation challenges faced by the National Trust and other organisations such as the Woodland Trust in their management of old parkland trees. The importance of trees and woodland remains high on the environmental agenda decades after alarms were first raised about the impact of global deforestation - a process that began centuries ago, motivated amongst other causes by the need for shelter and fuel, agricultural development, naval trade and warfare. Despite this now familiar story of use, misuse and destruction, we retain a powerful connection to trees. In legend, folklore, art, poetry, literature and song they are symbols of knowledge, shelter, stability and life. The sight of magnificent ancient trees invariably moves us with pragmatic admiration and almost subconscious attraction. The exhibition asks us to question what this strong bond between man and trees is: is it an ancient, elemental recognition or is it related to purely cultural and emotional associations? Inside the Castle Claire Woods adds an additional 'ancestor' to the portrait gallery and the collective Brass Art display strange morphing figurines in the Gothick niches of the ante room to the library. In the parkland, a huge dead tree is bound in thin cotton strips by Philippa Lawrence and in the picturesque Fishpool Valley Juneau / projects erect a mossy folly celebrating 'woodsmanship'. Near the famous avenue of ancient Spanish sweet chestnut Mariele Neudecker raises a ghostly structure to evoke the legions of ships, built from sturdy trees, which have vanished beneath the waves. In the productive walled garden Brass Art grow a bizarre new tree cultivar fashioned in their image while Laura Ford's 'Espaliered Girl' extends her growing limbs on the walls. Further works by these artists will be shown in the stable block which will be converted into a temporary exhibition space. 'Tell it to the trees' is the third Meadow Arts exhibition at a National Trust property and follows 'Give Me Shelter' at Attingham Park in Shrewsbury and 'Still Life' at Hanbury Hall.