Ahead of the residency, starting at SITE Gallery in Sheffield on 26th July, we installed a presentation of the findings from the R&D phase of the project, acting as an impetus for visitors to engage ahead of residency activity. The installation runs for 2 weeks.
Materials
Barrel Drums, blue x 2
Parachute
Large Format Prints, blue-back billboard paper, digital/c-type x 2
On the farm near Itapeva where they live, Si and Lux taught
me about keeping bees.
The method they use is very natural and
gentle with little disruption to the bees.
I learnt how to fix the frames and add wax
to help the bees start building. A thin wax sheet is slotted into a wooden
frame and secured with melted bees wax.
On our first visit to the hives the main
task was to rescue a fallen hive. When we lifted it we saw that
although the hive was on the ground the bees were still building in it quite
successfully so we had to leave it away from the main stack. It was quite
shocking being so close to the bees and having them crawl all over me (on the
other side of the bee suite) but also amazing, South American bees are a bit
more aggressive than European bees so beekeeping is slightly more dangerous
over there, but there is no real risk unless you are severely allergic to
stings.All bees are vital to the earths
ecology, to plant health including the pollination of our food crops.
On our second visit we gathered some honey.
The bees were very healthy and there was a lot of bees and honey, but of course
we left honey for the bees too.
Processing the honey consisted of uncapping
the wax from the frames, extracting the honey from the comb using a centrifugal
barrel, sieving it and bottling it in steralised jars. Si and Lux always try to
keep the comb intact on the frames so the bees can have their structures back.
Inevitably some break so the wax it kept and used for candles, beauty products
and fixing up frames.
Location: the foot of Moel Famau and the Clwydian Range Terrain: Spruce Woodland Instructor: Richard Prideaux, Original Outdoors Date: 28/06-30/06/16 Purpose: to explore outdoor-living possibilities Skills: Shelter-building, Fire-making, Cordage ( readymade and processing)
Two Strings
String One
Instructions for making twine and rope from nettles. From memory.
Collect nettles - look for the tallest strongest types as this will offer the most twine material. Remember to wear gloves.
Remove leaves - with one gloved hand, hold the nettle stalk at its tip, and run your other gloved hand from thin tip of stalk to broad foot. The leaves will come away easily. Save the leaves for later.
Repeat with each nettle stalk collected.
Remove gloves - the leaves are the stinging part of the nettle.
Take one bare stalk, and with a blunt heavy object, such as a medium sized log (diameter approx 10cm) or wooden mallet, gently bash the stalk from top to bottom, creating a split in the stalk.
Once done, gently open and flatten out the stalk.
At the wide end, carefully start to separate the outer skin of the stalk, from the pithy inner. Once completed, discard the pithy inner matter and hang the 'skin' to dry.
Repeat Process no. 7 with each nettle stalk.
Once completely dried, separate each length of nettle 'skin' into strips. They should separate easily along the length of the 'veins'.
Take one strip and, holding close to the centre between hand, start to twist in opposite directions between opposing fingers and thumbs. Once the 'twist' gains sufficient tension, you will create a twined loop and two long strands.
From here, keeping the 'twist' taught, start to plait/overlap in alternate overlaps, until the two strands have disappeared.
To make longer twine, towards the end of Process no. 11, add in two new dried 'strands' to the plaiting action.
to make thicker cord at the end of Process no. 11, repeat Process no. 10.
Other common plants used for cordage - Bindweed (Richard Mabey, in Plants With A Purpose says that bindweed is the only climbing plant he knows which can take a tight reef knot without breaking). Bramble - most frequently used as a natural twine, especially for broom and basket making. The barks of ash, hazel, lime, oak and sweet chestnut.
String Two
Nettle Tea
Take the discarded leaves and place in a pan. Simply add water and heat to a near boil. Use about two cups of water for a cup of leaves; there's no need to measure. You can make the tea
stronger by steeping longer, or weaker by adding more water. Once the
water is near boiling, reduce heat and simmer for a couple minutes.
Nettle Tea has been used for millennia as cure or aid for a variety of conditions such as - rheumatism, gout, muscle weakness and exczema - but mostly, recently as a diuretic in the treatment of urinary complaints.
Location: the foot of Moel Famau and the Clwydian Range Terrain: Spruce Woodland Instructor: Richard Prideaux, Original Outdoors Date: 28/06-30/06/16 Purpose: to explore outdoor-living possibilities Skills: Shelter-building, Fire-making, Cordage ( readymade and processing)
The fire - an essence of life and living. A focus. A necessity. Food. Warmth. Drying. Story-telling. Togetherness. Safety.
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A particularly interesting thing of note regarding fire before the advent of processed and automated ignition, was the notion of fire-carrying.
It's a really beguiling thing, the idea of creating fire from two or three sticks of wood. Of all the alternative-living processes, it is perhaps the most evocative. But, like most of these processes - shelter building, water purifying, cordage, trapping etc. - it is really time and moreover energy consuming.
So - in ancient society, there would have been a role to care for the
fire - once made, it would have been essential not to let it go out - to
avoid the need to go through the whole fire-starting process - and in
the event of having to move settlement, the fire - or the ember at least -
would have needed to be carried. It's of interest to think that fires might have had a sense of ancestry.
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Richard showed us the bow drill method ( as seen in the video below) - it's probably the most common and well-known method - but as you can see, even for a professional with hundreds of bow drill "successes" it's incredibly arduous, with no guarantees.
Location: the foot of Moel Famau and the Clwydian Range Terrain: Spruce Woodland Instructor: Richard Prideaux, Original Outdoors Date: 28/06-30/06/16 Purpose: to explore outdoor-living possibilities Skills: Shelter-building, Fire-making, Cordage ( readymade and processing)
to begin, make a 'tripod', using spruce roots to secure the upper join
fill each side with assorted length branches from tall (at the opening/head end) to small (at the foot end)
fill in the roof with assorted branches.
cover the entire structure with leafed branches
cover the entire structure with leaf mulch from the forest floor.
Notes
- The roots of spruce trees, when stripped, make a perfect natural cordage - when used as a tie for the initial tripod, the fibres of the roots 'grab' to the bark of the tree branches, and when knotted and tied form a perfect weather-resistant fixing.
- At the early stage of construction, make sure the 'tripod' branches are tall enough and long enough to provide enough space for intended occupants.
- For effective waterproofing, make sure when covering the structure that there are no areas left uncovered. If you can see light coming in to the structure, it means there's a gap for rain to find its way in.
- The leaf mulch on the forest floor makes for perfect waterproofing material. If you dig down only a couple of centimetres, it is likely you will find the undergrowth quite dry - the moisture in a (this) forest is maintained in the upper layer of leaf mulch. Using this material for waterproofing your structure, effectively mimics nature. We covered our structure to a depth of 3 cms, though it is advisable to double or treble this volume if planning to use your shelter for any length of time.
Spruce roots make good twine and tie materials. It
was difficult to escape this spruce root tie up.
Old parachutes can be used for larger shelters.
Why do we feel that the this fabric of a tent will protect us from any real danger?
Richard pointed out that basic first aid and CPR
are essential survival skills people sometimes forget about…
Body temperature control, also very important - you
must understand when you are getting to warm with activity, and when you stop
you must have another layer to put on, don’t sweat and take everything off you
will be cold and wet. Discomfort leads to poor decisions.
