Feral Systems is an immersive multimedia installation exploring the wild ecologies of West Dorset and our entangled relationship with the more-than-human world.

 

The project explores feral as a condition of life that persists, adapts and flourishes where human intention gives way to ecological agency. It considers the landscape not as a passive backdrop to human activity, but as a living, evolving system in which countless forms of life — plants, insects, animals, water, weather, soil and humans — continually influence and shape one another.

 

The work draws upon three distinct but interconnected wild environments around Hooke: ‘the Bog’, a mosaic of woodland, scrub and flush meadow being cared for and rewilded; Redholme Coppice within Kingcombe National Nature Reserve; and wildflower meadows around Drake North. Water forms a fourth, fluid element within the work, connecting these environments through its constant movement and presence.

Film, field recordings and sculpture come together to create an immersive environment in which the boundaries between these elements become blurred. Large sculptural forms, inspired by the organic forms and materials found within the landscapes, function as both loudspeakers and surfaces for projected moving image. Film spills across the sculptures and surrounding space while layers of sound create a shifting and enveloping experience.

 

Rather than simply representing these places, Feral Systems seeks to evoke something of their vitality, beauty and complexity. The work invites audiences to slow down, listen closely and become more attentive to the life that exists around them. Through sensory experience, it aims to encourage a deeper awareness of our own entanglement within the wider living world.

The work is rooted in ideas of ecological interconnection, shared agency and responsibility, while also celebrating the potential of rewilding and regenerative approaches to the landscape. It seeks to offer a positive ecological voice at a time when environmental crisis can often feel overwhelming, using beauty, curiosity and connection as a way of encouraging care and possibility.

 

Feral Systems was first exhibited at Eype Centre for the Arts, with an engagement workshop and installation at Hazelbury Plucknett Primary School. The project bringing together sound, sculpture and moving image to create immersive experiences that explore our relationship with the living world.

 

Ultimately, Feral Systems asks us to consider where we sit within these complex systems — not outside them, looking in, but as one part of a constantly shifting and entangled ecology.