APD Play and Nature - Treester

Theme: Play and Nature

Context:
My favourite thing about nature is its uncanny ability to slow the pace. Serenely beautiful and full of intricate details and textures. When you stop to take notice, it slows things to a contemplative crawl where you can delight in your senses. I personally love hugging and whispering to trees in my spare time, so I wondered how I could create something that captured this element of nature. I also wondered if I could evoke this gentle pace outside of the context of nature. I was inspired by this installation by Helen Kwok and Chad Toprak, Musical Monoliths (https://mkw.melbourne.vic.gov.au/event/musical-monoliths/) which consists of several musical towers. As you run your hand across the sensors, you’ll feel a gentle rumble as the speakers behind play. I found myself slowing down and embracing the monoliths much like I would a tree (lol). One idea I had was to ask participants to stand on a keyboard barefooted as though they were standing in grass. They’d close their eyes as they stroke their feet against the keyboard and soft grass noises play in response.

I felt this was conceptually quite interesting but I also wanted to go outside. Refocusing on the concept of delighting in the senses I thought about ways I could encourage participants to engage with nature in unconventional ways, especially through touch. This is where I got the idea of a Twister spin-off that uses textures instead of colour. I was especially enthused with the idea when it became apparent that the game would necessitate exploring your environment to find practical setups for your poses. This means engaging your senses of vision and touch. 

Method:
I created a spin wheel board based off the classic Twister wheel, replacing the colour icons with various nature elements (grass, water, trees and leaves). I then travelled to the closest park with bodies of water to play. I went barefoot and spun the wheel till I had an element for each limb (left/right hand/foot). I then explored the park on the lookout for a suitable place to hold the assigned pose. I did this several times and catalogued the process in a video showcase.

Response:
I created Treester, a nature spin-off of the classic Twister game. Spin the wheel, explore nature, touch grass and strike funny poses.
Video Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AsDczcQNPo

Reflection:
I found it quite challenging to produce a response that didn’t feel like it was actively detracting from the innate virtues of nature. I had wished I could just hang out in nature and enter that as my response but I wasn’t sure how I could document it. When I decided on Treester, I left for the park just as it started to rain. I found some cover and sat around hoping the rain would let up. I was stressed and in a rush, trying to complete my response quickly so I could move on to other work. With no signs of letting up, I went barefoot into the cold and wet and started capturing some footage. I resented the fact that I couldn’t just relax into my surroundings and that I had to document the process with my shitty phone that kept falling over. However, nature being the champion that she is, I found myself slowly charmed by the little delights. Wet grass squelched underfoot as I frolicked across a field, groups of ducks either side of me marching along. The sun emerged, a rainbow even. I underestimated nature, I wondered how I could create something that could emphasise the traits of nature but the best thing my response did was put me there. Nature is epic y’all.