Forest of Forgotten Shadows

'Forest of Forgotten Shadows' ia an audio-textile installation that uses field recordings of Ash trees whilst the hand-woven panels depict actual Ash trees on the Dinefwr estate in Carmarthenshire, Wales, some of which have been lost to Ash dieback disease. Author, Thomas Hardy wrote that one can identify a tree by its ‘susurration’, the sound of its leaves in the wind. Using recorded audio of air moving through leaves and branches, the soundtrack imagines the Ash tree breathing. It builds from a gentle breeze that rustles the leaves and flutters the winged fruits or ‘keys’, to a wind that whooshes and whips through its domed canopy swishing the leaves in gusts, creating the distinctive hiss of the Ash. We can hear the uplifting sound of lively birdsong, trilling and chirping, as well as the creaks and groans of the branches as they move in the breeze. It reminds us that these graceful trees are alive and awake, a vital part of the wider eco-system, ebbing and flowing through the seasons. Alongside this life-affirming rhythm, a mournful drone hauntingly resounds through the soundscape, unsettling and disquieting, heralding the unremitting spread of Ash dieback. Its ravages are visible through the wilted, discoloured leaves which shed early, the lesions that develop on the bark and the brittle branches which are left a charred brownish grey. The hand-woven panels and accompanying sound reflect upon this ghosting of our woodland landscape. These forgotten shadows and silhouettes are echoed in the melancholic resonance, the memory of wind playing amidst once verdant treetops. Supported by the Arts Council of Wales in partnership with Rhys James, Sound Design.