universal case study of ten thousand things

The hugging bag is made from hessian and filled with larch, spruce and pine dust. The diameter of the bag is equal to one of my hugs (1.54 metres.) Suspended from the ceiling, when hugged the bag leaves behind a trace of itself on the 'hugger'.

A hug can used as way of gauging the approximate age of a tree.

A tree might be ancient if it measures the following:

Oak – 3 adult hugs Beech – 2 adult hugs Scots Pine– 1 adult hug Rowan – one adult hug Birch – a wrist hug Hawthorn – an elbow hug Cedar of Lebanon – 4 adult hugs Field Maple - 1 adult hug Sweet Chestnut - 4 adult hugs Ash - 2 adult hugs

The white flag is a gesture of surrender and an appeal for negotiation but also a symbol of protest, a rally cry, a way of drawing attention to nature's injuries.

'Poor Cow' part IV, now the structure is more about the spaces between the wood; the circular holes and how they can be stuffed. The leather and latex protrusions resemble a fungal organism, disease or bacteria. Dust, ash and dead wood/ animal skin as materials suggest a barren landscape where life and fertility have only existed in the past.

Emile Westman Hertz's work coloured my response to this project. His exploration of materials, organic shapes and anatomical references encouraged me to consider shapes not usually associated with wood. Also, his 'museological' approach to installation reminded me that, for me, the process is as important as the outcome.