Chapter 3: "Librettising" ecology to create Lipote: An Interconnected Journey
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Context of the Research and Influences
3.3 Synopsis
3.4 Developing the Script
3.4.a Communication: Influence from the Science
3.4.b Exploring Different Worlds: Panarchy and Adaptive
3.4.c Soil
3.4.d The Fungal Network
3.4.e The Narrator
3.4.f The Humans
3.4.g The Rainforest
i. A Framework for the Rainforest
iii. Exploring the Rainforest through Cycles of Collaboration
3.4.h The Palm Tree Plantation
3.4.i Lipote as the Loner Tree and the "Fiery Edge"
3.4.j The Strangler Fig
3.4.k The Forest Garden (or Taungya) and the Marriage
3.6 Future Steps and Conclusion
3.2 Context of the Research and Influences
Through researching the science and different fields around tree biology I quickly found that there is a very alive and thriving world of eco-art which is deeply related to the ways in which I have started working for my PhD. During the pandemic and lockdowns I was able to attend conferences online whose main focus was to look for subjective representations of plants and forests, leading to many valuable interdisciplinary projects. In particular these were conferences held by Nature, Art and Habitat Residency (NAHR, 2021) and the Mind of Plants Symposium (Arts Front, 2021) and Be-Coming Tree (2021). I found that this subject has a long history in both scientific and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Having begun exploring other artworks in this field I was encouraged to make use of my work as well in this area, to expand the practice of anthropomorphism in science and opera beyond the realm of physics, and test out my processes and practices in another area of science.
I decided to focus this piece on the differences between various forest systems, such as rainforests and monocultures. I had been inspired to do so when researching deforestation occurring in Borneo during my Masters in Environmental Technology,specifically in the Malaysian regions of Sabah and Sarawak, in aid of reforesting for palm oil plantation.16 This is significant as these “forests”, or monocultures, are very different types of systems whose soils and networks vary greatly from those found in the Canadian forest soils by scientists such as Suzanne Simard. This lays the groundwork for 2 very different types of soil, which hold carbon (and organic matter/life), nitrates and phosphates in very different ways (Edy et al., 2022; Sahner et al., 2015)17. During the discussion with Dr Eichhorn the message he left me with was that ‘we need to not just learn to live with forests better but also to understand that all types of forests have a value and all have a place’ (Eichhorn, 2021). This also encouraged me to explore the various ways in which we interact with both natural and man influenced forests. In order to show the differences between these systems underground I used the characteristics of the trees themselves, and the ways in which they interact with their environments, including the soil, to provide a starting place for the characters and narrative to grow from.