My Body Is The Forest, The Forest Is My Body
2 channel video installation, 2017
Białowieża - Primeval Forest, Poland
2-channel video, each 10:53 min
camera, stills: Jacek Jaca Wiśniewsky
In this project, filmed in the Białowieża Forest in Poland, I'm searching to better understand the metaphoric interrelation between the body and the forest, with the intention of changing the perceived socio-political distance between them. The initial sounds used in the composition are unprocessed field recordings, which gradually become increasingly artificial in order to highlight the human intervention in the forest. The two environments - the forest and the body - are intertwined on multiple different levels that feed into and morph one another.
The forest as a body is a living organism. The individual trees that constitute a forest, as well as the cells in a human body, are connected through a complex electromagnetic system through which they communicate as a whole, protecting themselves if endangered. If a part of the forest falls sick, another other part feeds it minerals and water to protect and to cure it. If one part is cut down, the other part will fall ill acknowledging the loss. The body as an organism is also intrinsically connected and aware of everything that happens inside it - cells in our bodies communicate to support each other.
The forest has no means to defend itself against the external force of human activity attacking its territory, whereas within its own organism it can persevere despite naturally occurring invasions of bugs, insects situation, we're confronted with the unknown or unpredictable that we are not able to anticipate and fully understand. This same analogy may be made with the forest. The Body and the Forest are vulnerable entities consisting of innumerable elements in which every small piece matters. etc. due to various symbiotic relationships maintained within its ecosystem. Correspondingly, the body protects itself and fights against minor invasions thanks to the immune system. However, it is not capable of coping on its own with the force of an unwanted external attack if this aggressor surpasses the immune system’s or person’s physical strength. Frequently in an attack
text © Martyna Poznańska
