design indaba 2012: the clockwork forest by greyworld design indaba 2012: the clockwork forest by greyworld
mar 10, 2012

design indaba 2012: the clockwork forest by greyworld

‘the clockwork forest’ by greyworld, 2011 all images courtesy the artists

andrew shoben is the founder of art collective greyworld which primarily focuses on developing art for shared public spaces. as one of this year’s design indaba conference speakers, south africa’s major design event which brings together creative visionaries from across the globe to share their knowledge and expertise of their fields of discipline, shoben animated the crowd with his humor and witty projects.

one of the works which was presented was ‘the clockwork forest’, a public installation located in grizedale, england. the piece is comprised of a series of turnkeys affixed to various trees within the wooded area. as one is wound-up, music begins to play, as if the user has brought to life an additional layer of sound organically existing in the natural environment. the work was commissioned by the national forestry commission of england and aids in the enhancement of the interaction between the park goer with his  / her natural surroundings.

‘the forest is often the mysterious location of secret stories, of distant sounds from hidden camp fires, of secret meetings and unexplained sounds.‘ -greyworld

‘the clockwork forest (2011)’ by greyworld

the key which turns the nature-placed music box

 

two men work to secure the cog to the tree, creating the ‘clockwork forest’

leigha db
mar 10, 2012

  • Nice idea. I would be intrigued though to hear how such a seemingly heavy contraption can be attached (theft-proof?) to a tree without harming it, i.e. without piercing its bark.
    Thanks.

    Mike says:
    Mar 13, 2012

have something to add? share your thoughts in our comments section below.

comments policy
LOG IN
designboom's comment policy guidelines
generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
- please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
- please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
- please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
(there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

forgot password

(11 articles)

art news

all art news