[R]ob and Harriet Fraser, photographer and writer, have been working on The Long View project for well over two years. That work has recently culminated in an exhibition at Grizedale Forest Visitor Centre and the publication of a book, both called The Long View.
The next stage of The Long View is the creation of three treefolds – two of them close to the locations of trees featured in The Long View and one of them, treefold:centre, being built in Grizedale Forest as part of the sculpture trail.
“The treefolds were an idea we had about creating a legacy in the landscape following The Long View that would offer a place for people to contemplate trees and landscape,” says Rob Fraser. “The idea was then submitted to Common Ground and the concept was selected as one of eight Charter Art Residencies in the UK. Each one of these residencies is marking the launch of a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People in a unique way. The new Charter will replace the original Forest Charter, signed 800 years ago.”
The treefolds are in good company: other artists involved in the Charter Art Residencies include Kurt Jackson, Christine Mackey, James Webb, Alec Finlay and the Turner Prize-winning, Assemble collective.
“We’re working on the treefolds with master stone wall builder, Andrew Mason from Kirkby Lonsdale, and stone carver and lithographer, Pip Hall from Cowgill in Dentdale,” says Harriet Fraser. “Each treefold will encircle a new tree, which we will be planting in the autumn, and will incorporate part of a poem, unique to that location but part of a whole that connects the three treefolds.”
Harriet and Rob will be on site during the building of each of the treefolds, starting with treefold:centre in Grizedale Forest next week, followed by treefold:east at Little Asby Common in August and treefold:west in Wasdale in September.
There will be public Drop In events at each location during construction with a chance to meet Rob, Harriet and Andrew. The first is in Grizedale on Thursday 20 July, 12 noon to 2pm, with the second near Sunbiggin Tarn on Little Asby Common on Monday 7 August, 12 noon to 2pm, also including a talk about the Common’s history, environment and management by Jan Darrall of Friends of the Lake District.
“The concept of a treefold continues the process that has been at the heart of The Long View,” says Rob. “It invites people to pause with a tree and celebrate the place of trees in a biodiverse landscape that is also rich in human cultures of stone wall building, stockmanship and woodland management.”
“At first, each of the trees will be small but we can imagine ourselves and others returning year after year to take time to contemplate what’s happening in the wider environment, locally and globally, and to watch these trees grow.”
The Long View exhibition continues in the Visitor Centre at Grizedale Forest until Thursday 31 August. If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book, The Long View, it is available online from the shop at www.somewhere-nowhere.com and is starting to appear in bookshops across the county.
The Long View
184 pages, 220 photographs
£15 plus £2.50 P&P
ISBN 978-0-9955042-2-6.
