OUIL405: Tell an Untold Story - Group Crit/Tree Talk/What next?

Group Crit

With a couple of the peer crits there were stories of people challenging their preconceptions about subjects and conflicts of belief and emotions which had me revaluate my story's direction and purpose.

My story had swung towards two possible directions exploring the emotions of intimidating environments such as the abandoned asylum and nature reclaiming buildings. But I was left wondering if I had put enough research into the original word, trees, and created a tenuous link to abandoned buildings in order to finding a more interesting angle.

I didn't seek expert advice on trees which left me only with opinions.

The group crit left me unsure of my story and that my journey had hit a momentary dead end

Chat with Matt

I wanted to talk with Matt again about my story's development. He said abandoned buildings had been done before so that's out and that any stories about the patients in the hospital may be tricky to do sensitively using illustration.

After further research into the life of trees and the communication between trees we both agreed it was an untold and interesting concept to look at.

Wood Wide Web

I looked up the relatively new scientific research into how trees 'talk' to each other and share information and nutrients.  

Suzanne Simard TED Talk

Simard talks about below ground communities

Fungi connects one plant to another

Larger trees can act as mother trees and distribute excess nutrients to other smaller trees around them

Complex systems called the Wood Wide Web by scientists as it is similar to the way the internet is connected 

Dying trees pass their no longer needed carbon and nutrients on to the younger generation - like a legacy 

Scientific American

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/dying-trees-can-send-food-to-neighbors-of-different-species/

A labyrinth of fungal connections

The Mycorrhizal network (wood wide web) transfers water, carbon and other nutrients

This is a fascinating area that I had never even known about and changed my understanding of trees as a silent, collection of individuals competing with each other but in fact are far more sharing and look out for each other, even with other species of tree.

There is a danger that cutting the biggest trees down can severely effect the smaller trees that rely on it for growth and nutrition.  

What next?

Find experts on tree communication - Leeds Uni?

Start creating diagrams/conceptual ideas with different materials/drawings

Observational drawing of roots

Diagrams of the internet and how it is linked around the world

Social networks - are they similar to trees talking?