Friday 27 – Saturday 28 September, 2019
One Tree Hill, Honor Oak Park Road, SE23
£5.75 – £6.50 + booking fees
“a work celebrating our belonging to the wider fabric of the universe – something we often forget” Aesthetica Magazine
In the first public outdoor staging of the work in London, Woodland is an immersive audio work that describes your body’s slow fade into the leaf litter of the forest floor, whilst lying under the ancient oak on top of One Tree Hill. This work connects you deeply to your body and to the oak itself, and considers the biological and chemical processes that continue long after you are conscious, as you are gently subsumed by the earth over thousands of years. Woodland is one of four works from French & Mottershead’s Afterlife series: exploring stories in poetic yet forensic detail, of the human body’s decomposition and the influence of different environments. They collaborated with forensic anthropologists, ecologists and conservators in developing each piece, researching minute details in the science of decay and renewal to create a series of works that puncture our fear of the unknown.
Booking essential:
You can experience this meditative and deeply affecting work by booking tickets here. Each listening experience lasts 30 minutes. This is an outdoor work. Please remember to bring a form of ID with you, wear warm, waterproof clothing and sensible shoes. Woodland explores death and decomposition and is recommended for ages 14 and over or by parental guidance. We are offering a 10% discount to Southwark Presents card holders.
Getting there:
By Bus
One Tree Hill is accessible by bus routes P4 and P12 and only a short walk from Brockley Rise where bus routes 122, 171, and 172 pass.
By Train
Honor Oak Park is the nearest station for Southern and London Overground trains. It is about a 5 minute walk to the registration point at One Tree Hill. Four mainline trains an hour go to London Bridge station and the London Overground has approximately 8 trains an hour from Dalston in the north to West Croydon and Crystal Palace in the south.
By Foot from the station: turn right out of the station and walk up the hill past the entrance to the allotments. Continue walking up Honor Oak Park until you reach the driveway for St Augustine’s Church (next to the Hindu Temple). The registration point will be directly in front of you.
If coming by foot from Forest Hill road, continue over the crest of the hill and walk down Honor Oak Park until you reach the driveway for St Augustine’s Church (next to the Hindu Temple). The registration point will be directly in front of you.
By Car
One Tree Hill is approachable by road. From the north along Brenchley Gardens and from the west along Peckham Rye, joining Forest Hill Road which becomes Honor Oak Park. From the south along Honor Oak Road turning right onto Honor Oak Park. Finally from the east turning onto Honor Oak Park from Brockley Rise.
Parking Cars
Limited parking can be found on Honor Oak Park.
Woodland has been supported by a Wellcome Arts Award and Arts Council England. The work has been adapted for The Ballad of Peckham Rye. We would also like to thank Southwark Council for their support.
French & Mottershead live and work in London. They have developed a substantial body of socially-engaged, visual and participatory projects in site-specific contexts and locations. They have also shown work in galleries across the UK and internationally, including Tate Modern; The Photographers Gallery; Salt, Istanbul; Centro Cultural São Paulo; and Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PiCA).
The Ballad of Peckham Rye 