Epping Forest Talks: Feral Forest - experiences, space & story telling

We are excited to be part of Urban Tree Festival again this year.

Join artists Melissa Moore and Danny Treacy, and author Will Ashon, for an evening exploring ideas and stories in relation to Epping Forest: how the figurative trees and thickets of woods are living archives and collective spaces that connect us across time.

An event for curious minds, creative souls, and anyone who's interested in the relationship between people and nature through an artistic, cultural or social lens.

On the evening:

• 6.00 pm: doors open
• 6.15 pm: session start and panel discussions
• 7.30 pm: reflections and audience Q&A
• 8.00 pm: ends

What we will be exploring:

Melissa has been especially interested in the pollarded trees and researching the practices of lopping, the social histories of common land and enclosure. She views these visually captivating veterans as living archives of managed resources and social relations existing before the industrial revolution, enclosure, and our current consumerist era. The fascination these trees hold will be discussed in relation to ideas of ‘re-enchantment’, which can summon various ideas about reconnecting with animate nature.

Danny will be talking about the Forest as a host for collectives, about joy, and about challenging the status of acts taking place in the Forest.

Will will be talking about and reading from his 2017 book, Strange Labyrinth, which explores the counter-cultural legacy of Epping Forest through figures including Ken Campbell, Mary Wroth, Jacob and Margaret Epstein, and Penny Rimbaud of the anarcho-punk band Crass.

Artist: Melissa Moore

Melissa Moore is a Course Director at London College of Fashion, UAL and an artist. She studied at Manchester Metropolitan University, Kunstuniversität Linz, and The Royal College of Art. Her photographic work has been exhibited and published internationally, and is in public and private collections. Her series ‘Foris’ explores her interest in urban trees, and her current work is based in Epping Forest. She has been involved in various activities at Bethnal Green Nature Reserve (BGNR), in collaboration with Phytology – an artist led project exploring use, value, resilience and function of wildness within urban ecosystems, which she has used as a case study for lecturing at the Architectural Association to discuss sustainability, well-being and social justice issues around access and participation. She also runs a History and Theory course ‘Trees in London’ which investigates the treatment of trees in culture and in the street, and exploring the global role of trees in art, literature, mythology, science, and medicine, as well as in the built environment.

Follow: @Melissa Moore

Above image: 'Furies', Epping Forest, 2022, © Melissa Moore

Artist: Danny Treacy

In his practice, Danny Treacy explores the ideas of land use, shared experience and social invisibility. Treacy is interested in territories where people gather because there is nowhere else to go, where collectives exist in a fragile state because of social exclusion. Often these places are overlooked and not perceived to have a positive function, yet through human interaction and intervention, act as a collective for those who are dislocated or marginalised. It is here that Treacy gathers the material for his work which explores and reflects on the diverse activities carried out in these sites, all united by themes of pleasure and joy. The collection of objects he gathers necessitates an intimate and constant engagement with the space, an evocation of the Genius Loci or ‘spirit of place’, resulting in a series of processes including photographing, digitising, metal casting, and creating sculptural assemblages. Made works become signs of these ‘Collective Territories’, that counter social invisibility by highlighting a place’s functionality for those whose presence there is unseen, unconsidered or ignored.

Danny Treacy lives in London (UK) and responds to various locations, ranging from Guadalajara (MX) to Stoke-On-Trent (UK). His multidisciplinary practice is a response to place, and the overlooked communities that function there. In 2019 he was shortlisted for the John Ruskin Art Prize, exhibited at The Holden Gallery (UK). Treacy has exhibited internationally, his work is held in public and private collections. Recent group exhibitions include: Treewilder (2023), Paper Geographies (2020), Allhallowtide (Art Space Portsmouth, 2019), and Archaeologies (Charlie Smith London, 2019). Danny Treacy lectures at University of the Arts London and is a visiting lecturer at universities both in the UK and internationally.

More info: www.dannytreacy.com

Above image: Assemblage-4-Fig-5 © Danny Treacy

Author: Will Ashon

Will Ashon is the author of two novels and three works of non-fiction, his latest being The Passengers, which was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. He also founded the Big Dada record label, working with artists like Roots Manuva, Young Fathers and Kae Tempest. Will lives in Walthamstow and is an exceedingly poor tree-climber.

Image: Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers, and a Coward in London's Great Forest © Will Ashon

About Epping Forest Talks:

‘Epping Forest Talks’ is a series of talk programmes that we are hosting throughout the year to celebrate Epping Forest’s heritage, culture, and environmental importance. We aim to host each talk in different venues in and around the Forest, to celebrate the diverse landscape and rich history of this wonderful ancient Forest.

Urban Tree Festival

This event is part of the fifth annual Urban Tree Festival, a UK wide celebration of trees and nature in our cities, towns, suburbs and urban landscapes. The festival takes place from the 13rd -21stMay 2022. You can find out more by visiting: www.urbantreefestival.org

Host or Publisher Epping Forest Heritage Trust