“Ash Dome” by David Nash
Art is often defined as the making of objects that express feelings. An artwork is usually an inanimate object, such as painting, music, or sculpture. However, have you ever imagined that living things can be a work of art?
Forest, Field, and Sky: Art out of Nature that produced by BBC in 2016, gives an alternative view of art, which is a living artwork. In this film, Dr. James Fox invites us to visit six landscapes across Britain and meets several artists whose living artwork or landscapes art.
One of the living artworks is “Ash Dome” by David Nash. It is a circle that is made from 22 living ash trees, 30 feet wide, in the forest in Snowdonia, North Wales. The inclined branches of the ash trees make a beautiful dance when the wind blew it slowly. The leaves are like a canopy to the people who stand or sit under ‘the dome’. In human history, “circle” is really tied up with spiritual experiences, like the circle of life and circle of understanding.
“Skyspace” by James Turrell
Another landscape art is James Turrell’s “Skyspace”. James Turrell builds a special room for enjoying ‘a piece of clouds’. Dr. James Foxes gazes upward to the open square frame in which the moving clouds can be seen.
All of the artworks in this documentary film makes us think again about art, nature, and beauty. Sometimes, what we need is simply to open our window or go outside to enjoy the beauty of nature.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03slqt1