Who Cares?

Squeeze!

2012-01-12T22:50:00.000+01:00

I have just returned from a ManyMini Residency at Koh-i-noor, Copenhagen where I tryed to squeeze House of WildWoodWoman into the project space and make myself a(t) home. I thought January was a good opportunity for an outsider to move inside in the warmth for a short while.
However, as the tent was too tall for the project space, I had to tilt the birch pole in order to fit in. That's how nature works anyway - one must adapt to the environment. The question is: how much?
One can also adapt the environment to oneself: I took photos of trees from the local area around Koh-i-noor and stuck them on the walls around the tent - just to get a homey, woody feeling right there in the middle of town.

Autumn Art Fair

2011-10-19T17:09:00.003+02:00

I have just returned from the annual Autumn Art Fair in the forests. I particularly enjoyed these aspen leaves, which remind me of some of Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko's works. Or perhaps it is the other way round? Nature rocks! Year after year. The entrance is free and so are these works.
PS. Don't ask the name of the artist!
PSPS: More inspiration regarding Autumnal Tints.

Let it be, let it be

2011-08-26T22:50:00.001+02:00

...for a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.

Thoreau (source: Walden; or, Life in the Woods" 1854)

Face Forest

2011-06-27T10:28:00.024+02:00

On my journey through the forests with House of WildWoodWoman, I have just made yet another stop and a site-specific art project - this time in Charlottenlund Skov (Charlottenlund Forest) near Copenhagen. Here I temporarily transformed the forest into a Face Forest by drawing faces on tree stumps with charcoal.

The exhibition and the ephemeral nature of the works was partly inspired by the Russian/Korean author Anatolij Kim, who writes poetically in "Otec-Les", ("Father-Forest"): "When a human being dies, it becomes a tree", and "when a tree dies, it becomes a human being".

Although I don't think this has to be taken literally, I think Man and Trees are constituent parts of an eternal cycle and connected physically as well as psychologically.

Which might be why we tend to project ourselves onto trees :-)

Where will the journey go from here?

I think Komtessens Plantage (The Countess's Plantation) on the island of Funen.

Snail Mail

2011-06-21T10:16:00.002+02:00

Bewildered in the Wilderness

2011-04-07T10:43:00.009+02:00

The Map

The Forest of Kisses

The Entrance

The signpost: "UNscientific research area"

The Thread Trail

House of Wild Wood Woman and the two forest attendants

Entrance sticker: "Totally dazed in the plantation"

A forest feast in the alder wood and a chat about our different conceptions of nature

Early spring Wild Wood Woman went east to Rø Plantation, Bornholm, Denmark to host and guide a special trip in collaboration with Danish Nature Agency and NaturBornholm.
Reversing the letters in "Rø", they become "øR", which means bewildered, dazed and confused. The audience were welcomed in the woody VIP lounge by a doormat and two forest attendants handing out entrance stickers.
After a short stroll through The Forest of Kisses the trip continued outside the forest trails following a pink thread for approximately 1½ km. Inspired by Troy labyrinths and the name of Rø the trip went round and round, in and out, up and down, crossing and re-crossing in an attempt to find anOTHER way of perceiving the forest.
Finally House of Wild Wood Woman hosted an end-of-trip celebration in a delightful little alderwood situated in a glade inside a pine forest.
What a plantation! Surely forests ARE made of DREAMS!

Unchopping a Tree

2011-03-22T17:15:00.003+01:00

My way of unchopping a tree.....to be continued.........

See also W.S. Merwin's story and Maya Lin's video.

LandScapes, MindScapes, DreamScapes?

2011-03-13T12:12:00.002+01:00

Bretaye, Switzerland

Villars, Switzerland

Lake near Havhult, Sweden

Mount Huangshan, China

Hongcun Village, China

New York area, USA

ForesTREEtArt

2011-02-27T23:03:00.005+01:00

I went for a walk in my local forest and found many strange signs:

Was it graffiti, forest rangers' marks or simply trees ready for celebrating this months Festival of Trees?

In any case I call it ForesTREEtArt.

I come from (Teddy) Bear Land

2011-02-06T22:00:00.006+01:00

I might dress dangerously, but I cannot run away from the fact that I come from Teddy Bear Land and not Bear Land.
My perception of nature is coloured by growing up in a country where the most dangerous animal is a tick.
I would love to go to Bear Land one day, but I am not sure whether I can get a VISA - bears don't like humans - with good reason!
NB! Where do you come from?

Sense the Sighs!

2011-01-11T15:19:00.000+01:00

Not tired

not dead

not drunk

but trying to

sense

the wind

that once

whispered

through the tree tops

The Abject (Christmas Tree)

2011-01-05T14:14:00.002+01:00

Every year around this time I have the opportunity to study numerous variations on the topic of The Abject.

The concept of the abject is developed by the Bulgarian/French feminist and philospher Julia Kristeva whom I find fascinating but cumbersome to dance around the Christmas Tree with.

However, I think I grasped this much:

The abject is placed outside of the available categories of definition and exists as

an intermediate state

between the concept of an object and the concept of the subject,

something alive yet not.

The object is situated outside the symbolic order from where it threatens the order and augurs the end of meaning

and at the end of (the) day(s):

death.

Face it or photograph it!

1. 1. 11.

2011-01-01T20:09:00.006+01:00

On the first day of the year, the sky is gloriously fresh and spring mists hang in the air. It’s quite special and delightful the way people everywhere have taken particular care over their clothing and makeup, and go about exchanging New Year felicitations.
Somehow I feel these words are mine (as much great art do), yet they are more than 1000 years old, belong to Sei Shoonagon and are originally written in Japanese.
I am reading The Pillow Book and find great inspiration - the apparent random mix of nature descriptions, diary entries, character sketches, lists of awkward things and anecdotes come forward as being very post-post-modern indeed!
My N.Y. resolution 1. 1. 2011 is to make 'a mossy' version of a pillow book - inspired by journeys off the beaten path.
Happy Now!

Baby It's Cold Outside

2010-12-21T00:19:00.003+01:00

Baby, it's co*LD* outside!

Far too* cold to put up a tent.

Stiff, blue fingers are not suitable for tying knots.

Let's

go
INDOOR

celebrating
sOlstice
and
finding
recipes for making yourself a(t) home -

it's time for mbaking

Christmas Cookie Cabin

Happy X***

Recipe for making Yourself a(t) Home

2010-12-19T23:53:00.008+01:00

Do you fancy a recipe for making yourself a(t) home!
Well, I don't have the exact recipe for YOU, but I am happy to disclose, how I did.
Last summer when I was reading Anne la Bastille, I stumbled upon this statement about her tent: .....All my equipment has been tested, retested, simplified, and refined with every camping and backpacking trip....

I knew exactly, what she meant, having participated in numerous outdoor trips myself, but this time my mind turned round and came up with the idea: Why not make a tent that is the opposite of this: impractical, untested, in process and with a high ceiling? More feminie, more spiritual, more me!

I might have been influenced by the 15th century tapestry, from which I have painted a never finished transposition for my dining room.
Nevertheless, this is how I did: First I walked around in circles trying to sense the dimensions of my personal space; then I put in the dimensions in the equations for making an octagonal tent.
From then on everything has been a journey.
I am the happy owner of a homemade home, a House of WildWood-Woman and my own travelling museum and gallery in ONE.

DIY!!!

A Girl with a Gun and a Dream

2010-12-06T22:25:00.002+01:00

I am a girl with a gun, but contrary to these ladies, I am not much of a good shot.

I load my (plastic) rifle with rowan berries and dreams -

and who knows -

some day I might harvest my own bullets in a FOREST of fulfilled dreams

:-)

World Wide Visitors

2010-11-29T14:11:00.003+01:00

Like Henry Thoreau and Anne la Bastille I have three chairs in my House of WildWoodWoman, one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

"When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain" (quoted passage from Walden; or, Life in the Woods ).

In Århus one visitor helped me tune my newly obtained violin, which I bought, because I can NOT play the violin. I tried playing it once, and I got this euphoric feeling you sometimes get, when you walk into unknown land.

When I had been out for a while and returned to my cabin, I was often met by signs of visitors, who had enjoyed themselves. Sometimes things were left behind, but except for one visitor, nobody was light-fingered.

I liked that, and I also appreciated all the writings and drawings made by visitors in my guest book.

Many of the visitors gave thanks for the shelter.

You are very welcome!

House of WildWoodWoman went West

2010-11-24T21:54:00.003+01:00

House of WildWoodWoman went West to participate in the exhibition Nybyggerne i Ridehuset (The Pioneer Settlers in the Riding House), Århus, Denmark.
And it was indeed surprising how many great visitors such a small house could contain!

WildWoodWoman

2010-11-13T12:19:00.001+01:00

Death of Mr. Perfect comes as no surprise

2010-10-24T23:31:00.001+02:00

The snow arrived unexpectedly early this year in Sweden. Apparently it also did in Canada. In the morning I had the opportunity to make my own Mr. Perfect, but unfortunately he didn't last long. By mid afternoon the next day all traces of him had vanished. And back in Copenhagen nobody had ever even heard about him.

Questions & Answers

2010-10-18T16:16:00.006+02:00

I recently went to London's East End to see the show Questions and Answers by Marcus Coates at Kate MacGarry.
Marcus Coates is renowned for his often hilarious performances where he is wearing animal skins and appears to go into shamanic trances in an attempt to get answers to questions raised by the audience.
Trying to address everyday questions as well as major political problems this way is a refreshing new (old) approach - and isn't it THERE in the gap between subject and object, matter and spirit, nature and culture etc. that we find THAT?
But is it possible to look through other specs than those we have been wearing for 300 years in the Carthesian worldview with it's neatly hierarchically ordered and distinct dualisms?
Rane Willerslev is addressing the Cartesian legacy in anthropology in the book Soul Hunters: Hunting, Animism, and Personhood among the Siberian Yukaghirs where he challenges the Western anthropolgical view that tends to see shamanism and animism as "a particular cultural construct, intensely intriguing and interesting perhaps, but without any foundation in reality".
Marcus Coates uses mimicry in his practice i.e. he imitates but without loosing his own identity (he only dresses partly as an animal). But is he an artist acting like he is a shaman, or is he seriously trying to be a shaman? Well, leaving Descartes behind, the question is meaningless. To me he is entering the realm where he is not an artist (or shaman) and yet he is also not not an artist (or shaman).
In conclusion I would like to confess: I am not a tree, but I am also not not a tree.

Going home

2010-09-15T14:01:00.012+02:00

I have embarked on a new project this summer. I am making my own Hermitage, House of WildWoodWoman, Recluse Refuge, Museum of Natural Histories or Thoreau Tabernacle. You name it!

I am inspired by Anne la Bastille and Henry Thoreau but contrary to their cabins, mine is mobile. I want to be free to explore Wilderness - the inner as well as the outer. Wish me luck!......

Coming soon to a forest near you.

But first I am heading westward to become a pioneer settler.

What's hiding behind the Bush?

2010-09-10T13:07:00.003+02:00

What's hiding behind the Bush? Have you had it checked recently?
I checked it out at Brandts at the exhibition Wild Things.
Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger made these hilarious bushes to wear and to roll.
Now I know what to hide behind when I am 87 :-)

Name That Thing!

2010-08-31T21:33:00.001+02:00

"The practice of putting people into boxes and labeling things keeps us from knowing one another and the world as such. In fact that habit separates sister from brother. And totally dissolves the connection allowing us to know we are ONE."
I stumbled upon this statement from "the world wide self development department".

It might be true in some aspects, but when it comes to survival in the world wide wilderness - especially when foraging for wild mushrooms it is crucial to be able to label things:

friend or foe.

Unnaturalized Citizens?

2010-08-30T11:18:00.006+02:00

Krka National Park, Croatia

Is this Forests in a Full World ?

Or unnaturalized Citizens of the Forests?

Or simply Natural Nature?

Art2C

2010-08-05T23:21:00.000+02:00

The art institution Wanås in southern Sweden is worth a visit - the setting is awesome and the art projects are ambitious.

Malin Holmberg, I will stop loving you, 2010

Robert Wilson, A House for Edwin Denby, 2000

Filippa Barkman, Still south I went and west and south again, 2010

Hanne Tierney, Love in the Afternoon, 1996

This was not catalogued as a piece of art but to me it was :-)

.... and then there was these spooky voices shouting or whispering "Mama!" or "Papa!" coming unexpectedly from somewhere in the woods. The piece was I am thinking about Myself, 2003 by Marianne Lindberg de Geer.

And much more.

Accretion

2010-05-16T22:25:00.003+02:00

I am not sure whether art is capable of changing the world or not, but it certainly can change our conception of the world - I took this photo because I saw a naturalized Eva Hesse installation, while my husband and kids who made it, saw homemade sticks meant for making camp fire breads.

Airy Thoughts

2010-05-13T09:05:00.005+02:00

It's time to sow all the airy thoughts I get, when I am high flying:

...and

then I am off to Sweden to check out other kinds of Allotment Plots.

Forever wild

2010-04-23T08:53:00.000+02:00

a dream

a promise

a statement

an illusion

an invention

a lie

a truth

a tale

forever wild

Evolution documented!

2010-04-09T22:53:00.007+02:00

Which evidence is there for the existence of Evolution? Well, I saw it with my own eyes in Soho, New York! Even though I could hardly believe, what I saw: frieze dried rats and mice, real human skulls and skeletons, fossils and myriads of bugs - some of them encapsulated in candies (uhmmmm!). All for sale in a shop full of costumers in all shapes, colours and ages.
So YES - evolution is fact (all though I cannot tell for sure it wasn't created (by a creative creationist?) ;-)).

Urban Treescapes

2010-04-07T13:18:00.007+02:00

I just returned from New York where I spent a considerable amount of time strolling along the streets of Soho and Union Square photographing (the shadows of) urban trees in dialogue with the surroundings and bypassers.

As always: I couldn't see the city for the trees. Oh happy days!

As I said: There are NO WORDS

2010-04-05T19:34:00.010+02:00

Theodore Roosevelt's (NO) WORDS about Nature at

American Museum of Natural History.

I have NO WORDS to add.

Tree Talk

2010-03-23T23:06:00.021+01:00

It ain’t easy to talk about trees, let alone talking about nature!

But it IS easy to go to extremes and come forward as either a neo-romantic tree hugger or as a dry stick focusing solely on calculating timber value and CO2 emissions .

According to Aksel Haaning the Western approach to nature is rooted in Christianity, which traditionally has separated man and God from nature. Being religious is a matter between man and God - NOT including nature.

And – contrary to what you might think – the mechanical/scientific world view, which arose in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the Christian world view are not opposites, but they go hand in hand when it comes to fulfilling a shared mission: to drain nature of its spirit!

According to Aksel Haaning this attitude has prohibited modern Western man in developing a spiritual relationship to nature, which again means that we don’t have an up-to-date language when speaking about nature. Our vocabulary and our way of talking about nature is out-dated, antiquated and lacking vigour.

Recently, I encountered this problem when fumbling for words in an attempt to explain to our local newspaper WHY I think it is necessary to spare a little wood called Byskoven ("The City Forest"). I don’t speak as a tree hugger or as a rational tree counter – I am trying to speak another language:

TREE TALK!

Moving Winter Landscapes

2010-03-09T22:11:00.004+01:00

Far out in the Enchanted Forest

2010-02-15T21:06:00.006+01:00

I was enchanted by this years Sensory Exhibition at Brandt's Klædefabrik.

Breughel anno 2010

2010-01-11T22:35:00.007+01:00

Winter in The Deer Park anno 2010

as seen through Breughelian specs anno 1565

The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Breughel the Elder, 1565

Honors of 2009!

2009-12-31T14:21:00.010+01:00

On this last day of the year I am flashing my honors of 2009!

I am not sure which deeds or undeeds that made me achieve these noble honors, but somehow I must have met the requirements -

and the requirements are as follows: DoItYourself ;-)

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

If you can't get enough of honors, be inspired here.

Hi (5) from CO2penhagen

2009-12-12T22:34:00.015+01:00

Becoming-One-Becoming-Two-Becoming-Tree

2009-11-15T22:46:00.011+01:00

Becoming-One-Becoming-Two-Becoming-Tree

at My Place/Fuglsang Kunstmuseum.
.......
dazed by Deleuze & Gauttari!

Brussels Sprouts Healing Therapy

2009-10-25T18:03:00.002+01:00

Try Brussels Sprouts Healing Therapy - it cures almost everything on Earth: pickiness, low self esteem, down grown nails, irritating neighbours, stomach rumbling, parking fines ... you name it ... it cures it!

All Things Red

2009-10-21T10:03:00.002+02:00

Tree Therapy

2009-10-02T23:08:00.005+02:00

Do you suffer from hypertension and muscular tension?

Or are you just a bit stressed up?

Then TREE THERAPY might be something for you!

International studies from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences conclude, that subjects exposed to the sight of a green and friendly woodland scenery will relax more easily and have fewer muscular tensions as well as a lower pulse and blood pressure.

The effect is not the same if people are exposed to fields, buildings or a naked winter landscape.

And also new studies from Rochester University reveals that nature makes us more compassionate and gives us a sense of being in contact with our authentic selves.

Yes, sure, yes - I love spending time sitting on a tree stump alone in wildish nature (as long as my stomach is full, I am not soaking wet and no wolves, brown bears, bugs or maniacs are bothering me) - but I wonder if it applies to all - I have noticed that many young urbans don't seem to appreciate nature the same way. On contrary they seem to get bored and stressed out at once when being exposed to nature out there for REAL. I wonder if these kind of young people are included in the studies ....
And I recall passages from Eating, What we eat and why it matters by Peter Singer addressing how we are getting more and more used to artificial meat, artificial vegetables etc. - which means we can no longer distinguish properly between "nature" and nature - in fact the majority prefer "nature" to nature nowadays.

Danish author Keld Hansen is similarly writing about how we are getting more and more accustomed to "forests", which in fact does not deserve the title "forest" but should rather be called "intensively cultivated plantations".

So I personally question the deeper values, when we go green to beat the blues and are opting for nature therapy, eco therapy, wilderness therapy, healing gardens, green therapy or you name it ......

In a way we have still chosen the artificial in favour of the natural.

But no doubt, the longing for the lost wilderness is present and has to be taken seriously - the most simple step is to go out there in the nearest woody thing, called a forest or not, and find one's own NATURAL place ...while it's still there and for free... and start d r e a m i n g.

Curious Cocoon

2009-09-30T19:14:00.010+02:00

Once I used to go to cathedrals or art museums to get a sense of awe and wonder. Now I go to natural history museums (... or occasionally I go to the source itself: nature).

However, after having read Stuffed Animals & Pickled Heads: The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums I cannot enter a natural history museum without being very much aware of the overall focus and ideology behind that particular museum's display.

I have just returned from visiting the newly opened Darwin Centre at Natural History Museum, London - and here there is no doubt: the underlying paradigme is evolution and the focus is on evolution and on education about science and scientist's work.

The means are new interactive media and an architecture - the Cocoon - that attemps to turn the museum inside out and reveal what's going on backstage.

Scientists are displayed "live" and their personal (natural) (hi)stories are told - stories about curiosity and about excitement of exploring. And important stories about how their research play a significant role in wider society.

The viewer also get glimpses of the enormous collection of plants, animals, minerals and fossil specimens stored in the cocoon.

Overall - I can highly recommend visiting the place if you would like to know more about (y)OUR (natural hi)story.

Yes, Darwin is everywhere (we are in London, not in Paris :-)). His theory is - a theory - but indeed the best one we have had to date to explain the process how it all came about - but as I have written previously, I still cannot see why we can't all party together. Let the Carnival of Evolution join the creationists, the ID'ers and the indifferent in a topsyturvy polyphonic Bakhtinian carnival.
For Bakhtin, truth is not a statement, a sentence or a phrase. Instead, truth is a number of mutually addressed, albeit contradictory and logically inconsistent, statements. Truth needs a multitude of carrying voices. It cannot be held within a single mind, it also cannot be expressed by “a single mouth.” The polyphonic truth requires many simultaneous voices.

So let's meet in awe and wonder and celebrate the beauty and complexity of life on Earth! Because at the end of the day - what DO we know?

Wild Woman

2009-09-30T11:36:00.024+02:00

This summer I came across a book series called The Ringing Cedars of Russia. It is written by a Russian businessman - now turned spiritual writer and businessman (over 10 million copies sold in 20 languages!) - and is about his acquaintance with a young Russian woman, Anastasia who lives as a recluse in the depths of the Siberian Taiga.
In some respects the series reminds me of the books by Carlos Castaneda about his encounter with the Mexican shaman don Juan Matus. But somehow this Russian series is even further away from "normal" reality, and personally I don't buy most of the content.
However, I picked bits here and there that I liked - and what I REALly do like is, that it seems to have inspired loads of people all over the world, particularly in Siberia, to create their own eco-villages and to becoming aware of the power of plants, especially the power of homegrown plants.
I am already preparing my garden in order to be ready for spring and a journey into The Secret Teachings of Plants.

Natural History no. 13

2009-09-07T10:25:00.014+02:00

It's troll time!!

You might ask who cares about trolls these days?
However, trolls are still very much alive in the Scandinavian worldview, and I reckon it applies to many other parts of the world.
In Scandinavia you are taught about trolls from early childhood - as a matter of fact - children grow up with a certain ambiguity about trolls, because on the one hand they are taught about the appearance and lifestyle of trolls etc. and simultaneously on the other hand they are reassuringly told that trolls don't exist in reality.
Luckily kids are generally good at coping with complex statements, so most of them are not traumatized by this ambiguity.

To me trolls represent the blurred borderline between man and nature. However, in today's urban lifestyle "wild" nature has almost vanished and there is no need for a border anymore. Trolls belong to a time when nature seemed mysterious and threatening for man, contrary today where it is more the other way round.

But you can actually do an attempt to approach trolls. Like mystics who are exploring the inner alchemical state of nigredo in absolute darkness, you can do a similar thing: spend a night out ALONE in a deep forest with no artificial light and come back and let me know:
Did you get a glimpse of them??? I am all ears ;-) What if?
Understandably most people don't dare this - it's actually more trembling than you might expect - please check it out for yourself! And many people do not even have the opportunity, because they live too far away from a big forest. We haven't got many big forests left these days.
But one thing is for sure - you can always READ about trolls while you are indulging in a cup of troll tea.
And here is a little tip: If you have danced all night with the most enchanting dance partner and you happen to notice a tail sticking out under your partner's skirt or trousers, then you know for sure that the one you are taken by is a troll. BEWARE! Or should I say CONGRATULATIONS!?
Finally I want to let you know, that trolls can be tamed and trimmed to a certain degree - as long as you do it with love and a twinckle in the eye ;-)

This video-installation by Joss James, Anne Mølleskov and Ingrid Weiss was shown as part of the exhibition Who's that tripping over my Bridge? at Frederiks Bastion, Copenhagen, 2002.

Educational?

2009-09-04T13:31:00.009+02:00

Today I saw loads of educational posters at the exhibition AUTOPSI.

The boards were beautiful as they were and reminded me of a time where the world was easy to grasp.

This is how the golden oriole was depicted (the breeding couple in the bottom right hand corner):

Today this bird is more rare and might rather be depicted like this:

At the moment it is possible to see modern object pictures at the exhibition Blikfang og Blærebilleder at Medical Museion.

What is on show is the images that researchers are using to illustrate their lectures at conferences and seminars. These images must also be highly communicative in order to make clear points.

However, I reckon kids today would rather prefer interactive media such as Wii, when learning about the incomprehensible world....

Please Walk on the Art

2009-09-01T14:33:00.000+02:00

Last Friday I was Professor Doctor Doodlelutsky Hansen, Phd., certified artist, artificial art coach and art funk quack in Vejle, Denmark.

I had a hard time prescribing doodles, making Art4ALL, Art2Wear, Art2Go, Internal Art, Art Treatment and Artificial Art coaching.

Hallelujah. Art cures it all!

High Flying Catwalk

2009-07-25T14:17:00.012+02:00

Doing Dodo

2009-07-22T23:01:00.018+02:00

About drawing (an extinct bird) in blindness:

When there is something I would like to have a closer look at, I occasionally use a special drawing technique which goes like this: while I am drawing the chosen object, I simultaneously look intensely at the object while restraining from looking at the paper during the drawing process.
This method is suitable for all - also people who suffers from "fear of drawing", as it is not about being able to draw in the traditional way.
The separation of hand, eyes and object provides a tiny twist in ones view of the world - and it often results in some quite quirky drawings.

Here I have been drawing the Dodo which in any case must be drawn in blindness as it became extinct in 1681.

More about the Dodo in another natural history.

Natural History no. 215

2009-07-18T16:40:00.002+02:00

Swedish forest landscape anno 2009

Natural History no. 132

2009-06-27T11:17:00.000+02:00

NATURAL + HISTORY = NATURAL HISTORIES

The word "natural history" has the scent of objective knowledge. It radiates the impression that it is possible to observe and describe and understand nature, if you just pursue your investigations long enough. But the latter part of the word: "history" reveals what is at stake: a history, a story, a tale.

That's why I love the word "natural history" - there is a certain consciousness integrated in the word - an awareness of the impossibility of describing nature objectively. The observer is "a piece of nature" as well.

That's why it is necessary to write in first person - I am inseparable from the observed object: NATURE. And also from the HISTORIES about it.

Natural History no. 42

2009-06-22T12:53:00.007+02:00

Are your eyes on stalks, and are your ears wide open when it comes to picking up the numerous natural histories around you?
Otherwise try these ear plugs - made of 100 % moss.
They will make you all EARs.

Cultural Selection

2009-06-19T22:16:00.017+02:00

Today I went to the opening of the exhibiton: The Origin of Domesticated Species around Væksthuset (The Growth House) at Copenhagen University.

Interesting to see how different plants like cabbage, heartsease and beet-plants have developed via human selection, in part methodically, and in part unconsciously, during the last 10.000 years. The exhibition is situated in a beautiful garden around the university and I will return with updated pictures when the plants have grown a bit more.

Natural History for beginners

2009-06-10T13:23:00.009+02:00

The Green Table * is still growing and strange creatures appear -

they have all got names but for a while I will let them remain unnamed - just to be enjoyed as they are.

* In Denmark "The Green Table" usually refers to an exam table - that table where you are sitting alone sweating on the one side with 2 examiners opposite you.

Art Zone Therapy

2009-05-12T18:31:00.008+02:00

I have just visited Beijings Art zone called 798 but it seemed quite commercial.

Today it seems more interesting to visit Songzhuang (further out of town) or East End Art Zone.

Tic Tac Toe

2009-05-02T13:58:00.003+02:00

Everything I have ever wanted to say

2009-04-24T12:33:00.011+02:00

Save the trees (from human interference)!

2009-04-20T13:57:00.021+02:00

Apparently trees in China are very fragile and need humans to save them from .....ehhh ... being natural (?).

The Green Table

2009-03-25T21:18:00.013+01:00

2 February 2009

18 February 2009

15 March 2009

Late June 2009

...to be continued .............. here.

Bioco(s)mical Equation

2009-03-24T21:33:00.005+01:00

Hello everybody.
I am still calculating and trying to figure IT ALL out - and I think I am getting there - sort of.

Mutability

2009-03-09T11:21:00.006+01:00

The world is not like it used to be - and it never will be according to the law of mutability.

The title in Danish is: Rede-lighed, which means both " a mess" and "nest" + "equality & similarity".

Hush!

2009-02-26T11:41:00.016+01:00

Hush! Don't tell anybody that the Earth is round.

I have just been on a pilgrimage to Darwin's home country to see the exhibition "Darwin's BIG Idea" at London's Natural History Museum.

I am fairly fit, but I almost didn't survive the last part of the journey as trains and tubes were delayed as usual - I had to run for life in order to get there in time for my slot.

The exhibition is extremely popular, and you must pay in advance for an exact time of entrance. However, even though I was late (and terrified by the thought of being let down), and even though I faced the sight of a long, long queue, I was so lucky to be naturally selected by a guard, who saw my crocodile tears and followed me personally all the way through gates and barriers.

Finally, in the great halls of fame, I adapted to the situation of being a sardine in a tin can, while struggling to see the sacred.

I was moved by seeing Darwin's scribbles, his studio and evidence of his curiosity into so many very different subject areas: barnacles, cabbage, beetles, orchids, facial expressions in animals and humans etc...

However, what seemed most peculiar to me, a lukewarm protestant from Nothern Europe, was the emphasis on convincing the audience about the truth of evolution. To me it was like trying to convince the audience that the earth is round, not flat.

I shall never be the same after this - I became aware of my own evolution paradigm specs. So, although I like the idea of freedom to read and freedom to think for yourself, I cannot put my money where my mouth is, when it comes to public school politics. To say it simply: I don't want my tax money to be spent on teaching (my daughter and son) creationism as a realistic alternative to evolution in schools.

Yes. Sure. Evolution rocks! But - contrary to Dawkins, Dennett and likeminded (not that I don't love (yo)U(r) (theories) guys :-)) - I still think there is plenty of room for God(s) and spirit and the unexplainable. Science doesn't diminish the miraculousness of Life.

Who Cares?

2009-02-25T19:53:00.000+01:00

D-Day

2009-02-07T00:00:00.011+01:00

D-Day is coming up soon - it's time to book a table for the birthday Party.

We are going to celebrate that WE and Sir Charles Darwin are all very fit and have survived so far :-)

Who will get the best seat?

It runs in the Family

2009-02-02T20:34:00.003+01:00

See also stunningly photographed photoes of our relatives by Fokusfoto.

X

2009-01-12T22:28:00.005+01:00

Wow-Wov-Woven

2008-12-13T18:50:00.008+01:00

Some of U out there may be familiar with the Scandinavian tradition of making woven X-mas hearts.
This week, however, I came across an extended version of this tradition. Fuglepigerne (the Girlie Birders) invited "fools & fowls" for "tea & teaching" and 25 creatures turned up ready and steady to embark on a craft demanding tweezers, scissors, glossy paper, dexterity and fingerspitzgefühl.
Inspired by the book Jule-Fugle-Flet we were taught how to weave birds like the golden oriole, black woodpecker, cormorant, long-tailed titmouse, nuthatch and blue tit.
I was sweating like a pig(eon), desperately trying to (pretend I was in) control of my 10 claws, but in the end I actually managed to complete a piece of work: the Golden Oriole!

Merry X-mas to all of U out there!

Do you remember the Name of the Game?

2008-10-19T22:34:00.015+02:00

If not, visit Dansk Jagt- og Skovbrugsmuseum or go far out in the forests and spot or be spotted.

Can You Dance the Swedish Polka?

2008-10-18T20:10:00.011+02:00

FEMALE FORESTRY?
If Forestry is defined as "The science, art and practice of managing and using trees, forests and their associated resources for human benefit", then this might be a version of a kind of Female Forestry.
This video installation was originally shown as part of the exhibition "Who's that Tripping over my Bridge?" at Frederiks Bastion, Copenhagen 2002.
Made by Joss James, Anne Mølleskov and Ingrid Weiss.

Bad Girl Birders

2008-09-25T21:54:00.015+02:00

Wauw - found this website Fuglepigerne (the Birder Girls) which is a nice supplement to "Bloke Birding".

Personally I gave up organized bird watching 25 years ago, because I found myself turned into an anthropologist instead of an ornithologist, while spending more time watching "birder blokes" and their odd and UNNATURAL behaviour than watching birds.

Too me "Girl Birding" represents more than just watching birds - a more holistic approach, acknowledging that there is so much more to our relationship with birds than just watching them: BEING with them, feeling them, identifying with them etc.
AND loving them - whether they are wild, in cages, stuffed, cooked, portrayed or painted on dinnerware.

Tunø and Samsø

2008-09-01T21:51:00.010+02:00

1 2 Tree Smile!

2008-03-23T14:52:00.004+01:00

On Top of Things

2008-02-17T16:53:00.002+01:00

Make your Day - climb a Tree!

2008-01-20T22:21:00.002+01:00

I love tree climbing like many other people on this planet:

Into the Unknown Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T19:49:00.002+01:00

I don't know where I am going, but I know where I am.

And I am reading "Walking" by Henry David Thoreau (much about him soon to come).

This little great book began as a lecture, first delivered in USA 1851 and later published in 1862 after his death.

It is a lyric, meandering essay celebrating what is wild and untamed in the world and encouraging the reader to truly understand the Art of Walking and become a real SAUNTERER.

He writes:

" I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks -- who had a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING"

and:

"It is true, we are but faint-hearted crusaders, even the walkers, nowadays, who undertake no persevering, never-ending enterprises. Our expeditions are but tours, and come round again at evening to the old hearthside from which we set out. Half the walk is but retracing our steps. We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return, prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms".

And later in the book:

"No wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession. It comes only by the grace of God. It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker."

Thoreau himself preferred the impervious and quaking swamps to towns and cities with its cultivated lawns and fields.

In this spirit I shall enter 2008 with a walk into the unknown - and who knows - if I take a flight next year and look down at 2008 - my route might have turned out to be a STORK like in Isak Dinesens little story from "Out of Africa" - described here.

...og gå så, og gå så og gå så min ven

Birth of the Light

2007-12-21T12:52:00.001+01:00

Merry X-mas to all Beings

2007-12-19T10:57:00.001+01:00

1 December

2007-12-01T15:13:00.000+01:00

Autumn

2007-10-21T16:55:00.002+02:00

Forest Fashion for Trolls

2007-10-12T09:50:00.001+02:00

My daughter is the happy owner of this hut which has been created by Ingrid.

The Importance of Dialogue with Nature

2007-09-13T19:11:00.001+02:00

Starring my wriggling toes and my late cockatiel Ringo

Natural Humanity - Human Nature - Natural Nature?

2007-09-01T23:02:00.001+02:00

Mølleskov 2007

Manet 1863

Skovgaard 1858

Watteau 1718

Scandinavian Summer

2007-08-11T21:28:00.000+02:00

Danish Summer Seascape, Langeland

Danish Summer Skyscape, Ærø

Danish Summer Landscape, Drejø

Swedish Summer Landscape

Swedish Summer Landscape with blueberries and cranberries

Life is a maze (ing)

2007-07-30T21:55:00.001+02:00

I have spent part of my holiday in a maze - or rather a labyrinth called a Troy Town or a Trojaborg.

You enter with a question in mind and walk slowly and meditatively following the single tracked path to the centre of the labyrinth - here you turn round and walk all the way back again.

When you reach the exit your question is answered, your problem solved and your decision made.

Easy peasy.

Summer Holiday ....

2007-07-11T23:50:00.001+02:00

Reading EATING

2007-06-05T16:36:00.003+02:00

I have just finished reading Eating, What we eat and why it matters by Peter Singer and Jim Mason.
This book is NOT about the impact of your food choices on your OWN body's health, but about the impact of your food choices on OTHERS and on the environment.
Having consumed this book it is almost impossible not to being (or trying to be) at least a conscientious omnivore.

Buying fair trade and organic food is a growing industry in Europe, particuarly in UK.
However, it is not always easy to find ethical meat. The Danish newspaper Politiken made a survey in Copenhagen recently and found ethical chicken in 2 of 10 supermarkets only (Superbrugsen and Kvickly) (26 May 2007).

Here are some ways to start making a difference:
Every time you are shopping or eating out ASK QUESTIONS about the origin of the food you are buying. For example questions about organic/non-organic production, fair trade, animal welfare, food miles, social responsibility, energy and water consumption in production etc.
You might very well get no answer but shop assistants and waiters baffled by the questions will soon learn that they need to find the answers.

You can also take action in other ways:

FRUIT is an ongoing project by Future Farmers who examines the current food systems and proposes expanded access to knowledge about the food we consume.
Join their online demonstration

Or try We Are What We Do's action no. 51 "Find out where your lunch has come from"

The more transparency we get regarding our food and the implications of producing it, the easier we can make a conscious and conscientious choice.

I Love Tall Pines - Jeg Elsker Høje Fyre

2007-05-23T12:14:00.000+02:00

In Danish "Jeg elsker høje fyre" means

"I love tall pines" as well as "I love tall guys" .

Do you also YPine ?

Extinct - Extinct Not

2007-05-15T15:32:00.001+02:00

Golden Age Landscape 2007

2007-05-13T15:14:00.001+02:00

Dyrehaven, north of Copenhagen

At Home and Abroad

2007-05-09T22:42:00.000+02:00

and

Puzzle (72 pieces)

2007-04-27T11:34:00.001+02:00

.....to be continued.....

Do you like art AND do you like flowers - check out Anya Gallacio

Spring Exhibition for Garden Gnomes and Fledglings

2007-04-26T20:27:00.001+02:00

Report from a Prune

2007-04-24T11:11:00.001+02:00

Thanks to everybody who turned up at Overgaden this weekend and thanks for nice company to fellow exhibitors and bookworms:

Space Poetry, Hurricane Publishing, Aben maler, Henrik Drescher, Anja Franke, Dada-invest, Amir Zainorin, Jørgen Michaelsen, Fluens Forlag, Smittekilde Press, Kunstakademiets billedskoler, Diafrag, Peter Brandt, Bosch & Fjord, Forlaget* asterisk, OEen-gruppens forlag, Forlagetforlag, Thomas Lahoda, Kabinetryk, Publikation – Kulturforeningen roll on, Forlaget Transit, Mie Olise, DUNK, Bjørn Ignatius Øckenholts Forlag, Butik CMYK/Bogreolen, Secret West Press, Øjeblikket, Apparatur, Pork Salad Press, Fucking Good Art, T.T.C., The Secret Company and Periskop.

Here I am being interviewed by Bibliotekarforbundet (The Danish Union of Librarians)
- don't be surprised if you find jam jars of Prune Poetry amongst the books next time you visit your local library!

Prune Press publishes "Prunes & Prisms"

2007-04-20T19:38:00.001+02:00

Plum trees take time to grow - so do plums.

Prunes take time to mature (from dried plums) - so does Prune Poetry.

7 years ago I participated in a group exhibition at Camden Arts Centre in London - the title was "Working with Thek" which referred to a simultaneous exhibition by the American artist Paul Thek.

My work sprang from falling in love with one single work of his - a painting on newspaper called "3 Prunes on a Plate":

Since then I have secretly let a collection of Prune Poetry mature in my kitchen cupboard - and NOW - dadadada - finally it's ripe and ready to (r)eat.

So if you happen to find yourself at Overgaden neden Vandet in Copenhagen this weekend, you shouldn't miss out on Prune Press' latest release: 'Prunes & Prisms' - a very creased and wrinkled piece of .... (come and taste for yourself).

Here are some extracts:

"Sveskepålæggelse" - "Prune Healing"

"Antiwrinkle Cream - No Thanks"

From the back:

Biocomical Formula

2007-04-10T22:14:00.000+02:00

....I will get back ASAP when I have figured it all out....

The Diversity of Life

Reading Nature or reading About nature?

2007-04-07T16:47:00.002+02:00

reading about nature

That's the question!

Anticipations

2007-04-03T22:54:00.002+02:00

All Fools Day 2007

2007-04-01T08:59:00.003+02:00

Hello everybody out there – welcome to my blog which is born on All Fools Day.
The origin of this special day has been much disputed and many theories suggested, but what is left is the custom of playing a practical joke on someone who then becomes known as an April Fool.
If you happen to be so unfortunate that nobody makes a fool of you – may I suggest:
Do it yourself! This is the day to celebrate foolishness – to make a fool of yourself, speak Double Dutch, confess to topsyturvydom, to put your clothes on backwards, to serve pancakes in a soup bowl and say the opposite as you normally do.
And why not go a step further and ACT as the lies has become truths and that magic and fiction has become REAL.
Why not believe in Spaghetti Trees, like huge numbers of Britons did in 1957 when BBC reported on the bumper spaghetti harvest in Switzerland due to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil?Have a fabulous harvest today and everyday!