May Chronicle by Sophie Dandanell and Stellar Meris

for(R)est manifesto

metabolic relations 

leaking imaginations

We write the for(R)est manifesto as a result of a 6 months collective experience at the COOP Forest Inscriptions with Neringa Forest Architecture. We have been busy thinking with the Forest, and building a collaborative structure of working where we have challenged the narratives and notions around nature through somatic experiences, research, and imagination. Tracing the stories of trees and plantations, we have looked at various different places not just as geographical sites but as living entities that are shaped by the imperial and settler-colonial infrastructures of the last century. 

what if … care?

As artists and cultural workers we wonder: how can we resist in times of urgency? And how can the collective take care of each one of us, so that rest is possible? The workload weighs lighter on several shoulders; yet what is it that we do? We are building a collective consciousness to see through the eyes of the Forest, and to build meaningful connections between different localities. We apply this practice not just to our research but also to the way in how we relate to each other. 

 - and what happens when research, too, rests?

Visible and invisible processes inform the group process and individual participation cannot always be measured; the way in which we express ourselves, experience the world, and engage with each other are different. We want to challenge assumptions not only about the environment that we engage with, but also about ourselves and each other. To look at each other with care, curiosity and confidence are key elements to make space for a shared learning process. 

As a student body that is dispersed in different cities and villages—across nation borders—we ask: how can we nurture our collaboration in the future? Can we manifest the learnings of our shared experience at COOP Forest Inscription in a shared digital space to engage with each other beyond the curriculum? Beyond the academic schedule, a rigid schedule where things do not have any moments to sit still, new forms of knowledge emerge.  

Driven by our experiences we are wondering how and where this leak can happen.  What happens when we stay with research for longer than a short duration of time? 

filter processes interactions and informations

not overload 

have a possibility to withdraw

organize endlessly 

We wish to see a continuation of our email chain—an exchange that accompanied us over the past 6 months—how could this carry our conversations further and keep the discussion alive? Publicly? Personally? Privately? Politically? 

In the coming year’s confluences at the Dutch Art Institute we propose an offering of student-led factories that build on the ideas and the learnings from COOP Forest Inscription, as a harvest - an opportunity for us to stay and to rest and to play with the research.

lastly dear all 

restful

migrating birds

see you soon

BACK TO INTRODUCTION: 2024-2025 COOP study group ~ FOREST INSCRIPTIONS