Our reality is one of many realities; shaped by the transfer of knowledge between western progress and ancestral histories. The future hinges on our ability to recognize the symbiosis between nature and culture as the foundation to shape our common narratives with nature. I create visual ethnographies as a method to measure the ways varied cultures place value on nature vis-a-vis economic, spiritual, or political value.

For Cultureland, I will examine the factors of spontaneity within calculated landscape of the Netherlands. ‘Spontaneous Space’ begins by collecting an archive of objects to reflect on the ethos of the region- What tangible and intangible evidence of spontaneity can be collected from the city and the rural parts of my immediate surroundings?

The findings will form an archive that ask two principle questions:

How can we rearrange the objects/landscape ideas to make space for natural spontaneity to occur?

To what extent do we act with care when we reclaim land?

The proposed body of work will consist of an archive of collected objects, recordings, written field notes reproduced as paintings, sculpture and audio to form visual and ethnographic narratives of the Dutch Landscape.

Interview with Amy Pekal about her ideas for the Cultureland residency.