Interview with a tree

Yup, back to Kairos. But even before I reached the Mystical Oak, I engaged with two other trees. One a new acquaintance, the other an old friend.

This little film was made for a prompt on the Gifts of the Sentient Forest page. The plan was to follow, roughly, this schema:

• Choose a tree (your interviewee or subject)

• Ask your subject permission to conduct an interview

• Don’t worry about the common or scientific name of your interviewee

• Observe your interviewee carefully from one point of view (fixed attention)

• Hone in on one small feature of your subject (fixed attention)

• Sketch what you observe; write down any words or phrases that come to mind

• Shift your attention from focused (fixed) to open (unfixed)

• Continue sketching what you observe; continue writing down key words and phrases

• Move around your interviewee to observe variations in form, colour, and light

• Continue sketching what you observe; continue writing down key phrases

• Listen to your interviewee and the environment (wind, birds, insects, people, machines)

• Note any odours (fragrant or pungent) emitted by your subject or the environment

• If possible, touch your plant or lichen (please don’t touch fungi: fragile and potentially poisonous)

• Continue sketching what you observe; continue writing down key phrases

• Take photographs and/or video of your subject and the environment

My sketches were a little limited. The sound was recorded while I was there and I didn't really notice any smells. But I am quite pleased with this.