A Remedy for Hopelessness - Te Henga Gorse Collection Ritual | Performance, Photography and Drone Capture Video | Te Henga Auckland NZ | Supported by MAC Artist in Residence Programme | Brydee Rood 2019
A Remedy for Hopelessness involved a ritual collecting of Gorse Bushes Gorse; Ulex europaeus of the Fabaceae (pea) family from land at Te Henga over several continuous hours of the day. The performance references the healing nature of the plant, the Gorse state of being, meshing with one's own feelings of despair in the face of human failure, unrelenting capitalism, climate change and extinction; working through contemporary intersections of art, caretaking, landscape and ecology. The work engages visual and conceptual narratives that stretch between the colonially rampant weed and the golden-yellow flowering bush - known as a Bach Flower Remedy for Hopelessness.
Gorse has tenacious roots and like other legumes it catalyses nitrogen from the upper atmosphere – with a special ability to bring fertility and vitality to otherwise isolated and barren soils flourishing resilient in places where other vegetation cannot. It is these penetrating and fierce qualities of Gorse, which have personally driven me to work with it in my performance as part of a new body of work. The essence of Gorse is intrinsically connected with the gathering of the Gorse bushes. By working with Gorse at a physical level, I embody a poetic contemplation of its medicinal, magical and permacultural properties and values; contemplating its relationship to wellbeing through creative practice. This collecting of Gorse Bushes marks the beginning of a new direction in my work.
A Remedy for Hopelessness Gorse Collection Ritual - Brydee Rood 2019 | Shutterbug - Conan Fitzpatrick
