Spoon and Bloom
Click on this link to see “GLEN FOLK”
An animation in 4 episodes by Annie Mar and Aaron Ross with a sound track by Brian Leach
Growing up near the Glen, Annie has a long-standing relationship with the park. She has memories of playing in the sand of the quarry, the apocalyptic Mad Max-esque environment of the steep dunes and indeterminate danger. She created secret clubs in the bush of the laurel tree with her friend Laurel before they knew how to identify a laurel leaf. Once or twice Aaron and Annie have put up a hammock in the trees at the Sun View entrance and shared a beer in the sun.
Together Aaron and Annie have witnessed the Pandemic Popularity of the Park, the welcome distraction of nature and the comfort people take in an elemental energy other than their own. Projections of the future at the moment tend to include visions of total destruction and damage, an inflation of technology and science and then a total breakdown of everything, culminating in climate catastrophe.
It is Doom and Gloom.
not Doom and Gloom
But what if we told you there is a parallel route to the future? One that welcomes the collapse of civilisation as we know it, that heralds the dawning of a world without its roots in the rotten soil of materialism and capitalism? And it starts with the Glen? Welcome, Spoon and Bloom! When thinking of our memories of the Glen, we realised that what made our experiences so vibrant was the wildness of the park. The darkened nooks and crannies hiding in overgrown undergrowth. The reverberating birdsong heard bouncing from the steep banks, resplendent with yellow gorse. The ivy feeling its way along the walls, conjuring fairy tales and history. The many paths trodden, then engulfed by nettles and brambles, only to be rediscovered by the most daring.
Spoon and Bloom
Spoon & Bloom in two stages
Spoon and Bloom
Seeks to protect the uncultivated and the untamed, manifesting a utopian vision of nature in abundance and how we can live happily within it.
This will happen in two stages:
1. A map of the Glen River Park. In our research over the past four weeks we have experimented with different kinds of maps. We made a map of the Glen from memory, an aerial map to scale and a map with collage of drawings and photographs of memories made in the Glen, using a printout of the aerial map as a guide. Our fourth map is a combination of our studies, which you can see here. We aim to flesh out the map further, inviting Glen-Goers to share their own memories of the Glen and marking spaces which the inhabitants of the park would have memories of. We will share our explorations and engagements on a series of walks together with a botanist/herbalist/forager. With this map we aim to reinforce the necessity for wildness and conservation in the Glen.
2. An animation of the Glen River Park map. This animation is to project into the future of the Glen River Park, providing nature is left and encouraged to thrive. Key features from the map (scenes of memory and habitat) will be further developed into a utopian vision of what the park could look like in 100 years if we nurture the wildness.
This investigation will be supplemented with the guidance from botanist/herbalist/forager. With a wide range of animations in our back catalogue, we will use our skills in this area to build this vision. We aim to work with fellow proposed Gleann na Phúca resident Brian Leach on a soundtrack for this piece.
bio Annie Mar
Annie Mar Forrester is a multi-disciplinary artist working in animation, painting and drawing. Annie-Mar’s practice is informed by themes of identity, personal narrative and belonging. These are established through a keen connection to the Irish landscape, its creatures and the natural world.
Annie’s practice encompasses participatory projects, including regular collaborations with Cork City Comhairle na nÓg and Cork County Library Rainbow Writers and Illustrators. She is a regular contributor to the Crawford Art Gallery’s innovative Talking Pictures feature on their award winning website and has been invited to design and illustrate numerous Learn and Explore teaching materials. She is known for her expressive works and was commissioned to create a solo citywide project titled ‘Going to Seed’ documenting urban decay and nature’s resilience in Cork City for the celebrated Notes to Cork Billboard Company. Annually Annie produces Cork Zine Fest with a small team of artists, creating a space for the Irish zine community to connect with each other and the public. She also regularly collaborates with Cork’s music scene, on projects with Elaine Howley, Caoilian Sherlock and posters for events such as Gig for Gaza in Cyprus Avenue on 24 March. Annie is a member of The Living Commons, where her studio is based on Shandon Street.
Together with animator Aaron Ross, Annie creates animations on biodiversity, climate change and ecology for organisations such as WWF (The World Wide Fund for Nature), Great Irish Grasslands, Farming for Nature and National Parks and Wildlife Service. Spoon and Bloom is an extension of this collaborative project, working with Gleann a’Phúca and the local community on a love letter to biodiversity in our area.
About Annie Mar and Aaron Ross
Bio Spoon And Bloom
Spoon and Bloom are a creative duo of illustrator and artist Annie Mar and motion graphic designer and animator Aaron Ross, together creating animations with an ecological focus.
Aaron’s upbringing in the wilderness of the Cork Kerry mountains combined with Annie’s childhood weaving in and out of rural and urban wild spaces, makes for projects centring a deep empathy with the land and the creatures we share our spaces with. Some past projects include videos soil fertility on Irish farmlands, the semi-natural grasslands of Ireland and a three-part animation series on Irish peatlands.
