10 May 2012

In the spring of 2011 artists Olivia Plender and Patrick Staff invited a small group of participants to live together for a week in John's Lee Wood, Leicestershire, in a critical exploration of folk revivalism, communal living and collaborative film-making. Borrowing a format from radical outdoor educational programmes started in the early twentieth century, such as the Kibbo Kift, Woodcraft Folk and Forest School Camps, this temporary intentional community explored how histories, traditions and ideologies are made. Through workshops, discussion and the collaborative film-making process, the participants addressed the history of the counter culture in relation to queer politics in the British context. The resulting film, rather than telling the story of their experience in the woods, reflects on whether living experiments such as this have the potential to produce new forms of collectivity. 

Life in the Woods was commissioned by Radar.

Participants - Daniel Bower, Red Chidgey, Ade Clarke, William Clarke, Jesse Darling, Richard Dowling, Zia Dowling-Haigh, June Gillert, Amy James, Michael Mertens, Jamie Partridge, Natalie Raven, Hester Reeve, Yerang Seong, Sofia Tornblad
Additional input - Bob Trubshaw and Matt Killip

Image Credit : Julian Hughes