End of March visits have seen another super Moon (Worm Moon)
Extremely windy conditions meant that my overnight cyanotypes captured some movement as the wind whipped up the water and created little currents through the grass.
The days following the wind bought some unseasonably warm weather, lapwings are very vocal as the layers of sound immerse me when I walk around the moss.
The water has been so still at times it has acted as a mirror for the ever changing sky. The occasional pond skater or row of bubbles breaks the surface.
Anna and I have now installed 5 measuring rods in various positions around the moss. This will allow me to take regular readings of the peat as it swells and shrinks over the coming months.
Microscopic relationships
by Donna Franklin.
Over the last few months Donna has been looking at small scale ecologies which lead to global outcomes. Specifically looking at Lichen and Fungi, and the possibilities of using them as bio-indicators of pollution levels.
Key words:
Alchemy, Fungi, Regeneration/Resurrection, refugee lifeform, extremophiles and Escape pods.
Lichen are 3 species in symbiosis. Fungi-algae-cyanobacteria. This is a deep microscopic relationship. Researchers have successfully separated the three invitro but could not stick them back together again. As fungi do not photosynthesise to produce carbohydrates, they work with these extremophiles in a plastic morphology adapting and changing in response to temperature, moisture and pollution levels. Here the fungi partner prepares to release spores.
Credit Line: Franklin, D. (2020). Lichen Sexual Reproduction. Living specimen.
A series of chambers, hairs, and neuron cells associated with the olfactory bulb inside the brain; The nasal cavity is the first line of defence. Sense of smell is an early warning system, connected to emotion and memory. The mucous production and act of sneezing expels particles, pollen and disease.
Credit Line: Franklin, D. (2020). Nasal Cavity, Sus scrofa domesticus. Fresh dissected tissue.
A 50-year-old lichen growing on our solar panel, 15cm in dia. The eroded centre, regenerating new tissue.
Credit Line: Franklin, D. (2020). Regeneration. Living specimen.
Listening beneath the bog.
I have spent a few visits sitting quietly with the moss. Training myself to listen and allowing myself to imagine the unseen landscape beneath the bog.
When the sky is grey there is a softness.
On still days everything whispers
On windy days everything maps the energy of the wind.
Broken patterns of light and movement.
Spring is bringing new layers to my understanding.
A simple walk and conversation with Anna Keightley led us to a small pool just off the main mossland area. Anna wondered if its more sheltered location would reveal some signs of activity using the hydrophones.
She was right, the pool was full of Toads gathering to spawn. Their chatter was fascinating. Listening below the water you could recognise distinct sounds, clicks and squeaks.
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-hill/toad-chatter1
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-hill/toad-chatter-2
The arrival of the Snow Moon left a thin layer of ice on the moss.
There was a stillness but a clarity to the light which illuminated the pools and the grasses. Sitting quietly I could see vapour rising gently off the peat as the sun heats the surface.
Birdsong gently surrounds me.
Winter Hill was shrouded in a pinkish mist.
Visiting Place Number 18483
by Dr Sarah Robinson
I have just walked around Lake Richmond, Western Australia.
A heritage listed site because of the rare and critically endangered freshwater thrombolites; microorganisms that resemble the earliest life on Earth.
The water levels are so low!
Here, there has been a recent bush fire and I noticed these ‘mini volcanoes’ of carbon… visually striking lines of thought for my creative practice.
