A FILM which explored the history of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail recently screened at Beechenhurst.
Common Ground was created by filmmaker Sam Williams, an artist who intertwines moving-image, collage, choreography, sound and writing. He focuses on multispecies entanglements, ecological systems, bodies-as-worlds and folk mythologies.
It was commissioned by the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first talks with the original artists in 1984, and Sam was chosen to make it for the screen.
He said: “The Trust put out an open call to find an artist-filmmaker to respond to the archive and the sculpture trail. I expressed interest and after an interview was chosen. The goal was to commission an artist's response, rather than a documentary, so my approach was quite intuitive.
“After spending time in the archive and the forest, I wrote a narration that described my encounters with the works, including some which are no longer officially on the trail, and others that are no longer in the forest, as I spent time looking for traces of where they might have been.
“In the archive itself, I was able to see images of past works and the processes of their making, as well as read documents that outlined the intentions behind the trail. I also spoke to several artists involved, and some parts of these conversations found their way into the film. In the end, there was a decision from the Trust and myself to focus mostly on the earlier works as well as some iconic ones like Jetelova's Chair.”
Sam, now based in London, is a resident at Somerset House Studios and has presented work at UK and international institutions. These include Chisenhale Gallery, Arnolfini,Tate Britain, Studio Voltaire, She Will, Röda Sten Konsthall, Kino Arsenal and Akademie der Kunst.
He told The Forester: “In the writing I hit upon a nice theme of ‘signs' that are scattered throughout the forest across language, visual and literal signposting. I write, record, edit and voice everything myself so it is a very personal response that I hope is also able to weave in enough factual information from the archive as well as include the voice of others. It would be great to do a part two and talk about the later works too!”
Sam praised December’s screening as an ideal way to engage the work with the local community, with hopes to spark discussion about the Trust archive and how others may contribute to it with images or memories.
He hopes the work will be situated temporarily in the forest itself as a sculpture and to screen it outside of the forest, to highlight the work of everyone who has been involved with The Sculpture Trail through the years.
You can read my review of Sam’s film on The Forester website, and more information about Sam Williams’ work, and The Sculpture Trail can also be found online. Anybody who wants to contact The Sculpture Trust can do so via an online contact form.