Lost and Found

The exhibition consisted of four components.

1. The Lost and Found is an interactive digital archive, featuring all known artworks sited in Grizedale Forest for a week or more, since 1977. It deliberately fuses the artworks with the place that they were created for. The Lost and Found archive aims to echo the experience of trying to find the sculptures when walking through Grizedale – some are extremely difficult to find, whilst others are very accessible. Lost and Found has videos of interviews embedded within it, which literally give the artists a voice. The interviews present a rooted perspective on how and why specific sculptures were created, whilst also revealing a wider perspective on how the residencies have changed over the years.

2. The Lost Tour Guide suit. This handmade suit was worn by Edwina to interview visitor's to the Forest. It was printed with the OS map of the map of the area, with Grizedale on the back of the jacket. This meant that Edwina could help navigate other people around the Forest, but could not do so herself without taking off the jacket.

3. The Missing Persons’ Files wall panels show the chronology of the Grizedale artists’ residencies, which were set up in 1977 by Peter Davies from Northern Arts (the then Regional Arts Association for northern England), in liaison with Bill Grant from Grizedale Forestry Commission. They track the different approaches to sited practice over the 5 decades.

4.Anxious Roots and Routes
The first thing that Edwina did when she arrived at Grizedale was to head out and attempt to enter the Forest accompanied by a 5.5 foot (1.6 metre) red balloon. She continued this over the cycle of a year, simultaneously shooting these attempts from two perspectives – one of the cameras was suspended in a harness under the balloon; the other was sited on the ground.

The Anxious Roots and Routes videos aim to visualise how a city dweller, who is new to the Forest, might feel when entering it for the first time. Would they feel exhilaration, or anxiety? If it is the latter, what form might that anxiety take? A fear of the forest itself, rooted in old fairytales? A fear of getting lost and not being able to find your way out? A fear of sudden or unexpected change caused by events such a storms or felling? A fear of losing everything as a result of tree disease or the effects of climate change?

In the videos, Edwina is dressed in her “city” clothes. The red balloon is a metaphor for anxiety. It is the equivalent of a red map pin, saying “HELP. I’M HERE”. It was easily punctured, which caused very real anxiety when floating a state-of-the-art HD video camera 6 metres above the ground amidst sharp branches. The two cameras produced very different readings of the Forest.

• http://www.grizedalearchive.org