An artistic soundwalk with a mix of stories, sound-art and land-art about and around the border.
Bos-Grens; the soundwalk takes you on a journey trough nature, sound-art, stories and land-art. Inspired by the heritage of the past and the experiences of the present, you walk on and over the border of Belgium and the Netherlands through the forests of Clinge (NL) and De Klinge (BE).
Along the way you will find borderbenches and art installations, co-created with locals, built with the dead trees of the forest. Here you can listen to the soundtracks with unique border stories.
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-04-22
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Hrins Collective Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Kris Last name of representative: Drieghe Gender: Male Nationality: Belgium Function: architect-builder-participative coordinator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Molenstraat 100 Town: Clinge Postal code: 4567 Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+32 472 60 58 11 E-mail:info@hrins.eu Website:https://hrins.eu/bos-grens
The project Bos-Grens, is a multidisciplinary cross border art project. The project’s aim is to capture the ‘border feeling’ and bring a new dynamic to the environment.
The feeling was captured in multiple steps.
The first step was
The Soundtrack:
We organized musical storytelling sessions made with the locals who shared their story with us.
Next, a lot of people shared their 'borderstory' which we recorded during interview sessions. A selection of the recordings was transformed into unique border soundtracks. These soundtracks were allocated to specific locations on the border. By connecting these locations, the route for the sound walk was created. The soundwalk is 6,5 km long.
Land-Art:
To connect with the environment and with each other we implemented a building process as a social activator. We invited locals, schools, international architecture students to work together on the subtle land-art installations made with the materials provided by the forest. We built 10 border benches and 2 bigger art-installations. All built with the same modular element. The element was made out of dead pine trees, cut in a specific way so they could be connected and stacked. The result is geometric shape with a very organic texture. The elements blend into the environment but stand out by the atypical design.
By adding the building process to the project, people of both sides of the border could connect by actually making something. We organized single-day workshops for locals and ended with a building week where the international people joined the process.
Soundwalk
More than ninety volunteers contributed on the process. The soundwalk is a permanent installation which can be experienced non-stop by using the free app or by scanning the qr codes on the elements. Since the project launched, more than thousand people have enjoyed the soundwalk. All the border stories and soundtracks are bundled in the book and cd : Bos-Grens.
nature experience
sounddesign
land-art
co-creation
cross border
The project started with the local context of the forest and the border. A lot of the forest was lost trough extreme draught and the bark beetle. The forest was experienced as a common ground by all the people on both sides of the border. By using the dead wood of the forest, we could inform the people why these trees died and had to be cut. We could inform people about long term forest maintenance. By giving a lot of people an active role in the process, the awareness of the environment increased.
The experience of the soundwalk makes you look at the environment in a different way. This give a broader perspective, not only on the environment but also on the people who live around you.
The land-art has been designed to be as low-impact as possible. The used wood is untreated. To fix the structures, we used reusable ground anchors. The elements can be removed without any impact on the environment. The soundtracks are activated by small beacons integrated in the installations which make connection to the free app. Digital adaptions can be made without changing the physical installations. By adding a digital layer on the project, it can grow and evolve in time.
Bos-Grens added an artistic experience in a rural environment where the border works as an extra social divider. By creating the soundwalk, made with stories told by the people and installations made by the people who live on each side of the border. The project wanted to break the idea of we and them. By repeating this process on different levels, the impact became sensible.
People who told their story and listened to the finished soundtrack were touched by the intense experience of listening to themselves. They were grateful of the fact that we found their story worth telling. By choosing these small personal stories, anyone who listens to them hears something recognisable in it. The fact that you listen to it in open air in a special place in the forest strengthens that emotion. The mix with subtle balance of music and storytelling, turns them into strong bordersoundtracks.
To project not only encourages people to listen to each other, it also tried to connect people by adding a co-creative process. We invited locals, schools, international architecture students to work together on the subtle land-art installations made with the materials provided by the forest. We build 10 border benches and 2 bigger art-installations. All build with the same modular element. The element was made out of dead pine trees, cut in a specific way so they could be connected and stacked. The result is geometric shape with a very organic texture. The elements blend into the environment but stand out by the atypical design.
Although the result of the construction looks complicated, the process was divided in easy-to-learn, doable steps. This is why we could activate totally inexperienced people of all ages. In the end everyone was proud to be part of the project.
So through the personal stories, the co-creation of the remarkable installations, the people feel strongly connected to the project. The project can be seen as a common cross-border project.
The project is accessible for anyone. All the events we organised were free. The musical storytelling sessions, the workshop-days, the workshop-week. The final soundwalk can be experienced with the free app. In corporation with young professionals of Scalda (NL) we developed 5 devices to explore the soundwalk if you don't have a smartphone at your disposal.
The co-creation process started with the idea of 'learning by doing'. So anyone with an open mind was welcome to join us. We split the task into doable tasks for anyone and all of them for at least two persons. There were no single person's tasks. This was the key to make sure there was interaction and communication in case something wasn't working out. This made our team very divers, from the girl scouting to the seniorsclub.
Bos-Grens added an artistic experience in a rural environment where the border works as an extra social divider. By creating the soundwalk, made with stories told by the people and installations made by the people who live on each side of the border. The project wanted to break the idea of we and them. By repeating this process on different levels, the impact became sensible.
People who told their story and listened to the finished soundtrack were touched by the intense experience of listening to themselves. They were grateful of the fact that we found their story worth telling. By choosing these small personal stories, anyone who listens to them hears something recognisable in it. The fact that you listen to it in open air in a special place in the forest strengthens that emotion. The mix with subtle balance of music and storytelling, turns them into strong bordersoundtracks.
To project not only encourages people to listen to each other, it also tried to connect people by adding a co-creative process. We invited locals, schools, international architecture students to work together on the subtle land-art installations made with the materials provided by the forest. We build 10 border benches and 2 bigger art-installations. All build with the same modular element. The element was made out of dead pine trees, cut in a specific way so they could be connected and stacked. The result is geometric shape with a very organic texture. The elements blend into the environment but stand out by the atypical design.
Although the result of the construction looks complicated, the process was divided in easy-to-learn, doable steps. This is why we could activate totally inexperienced people of all ages. In the end everyone was proud to be part of the project.
So through the personal stories, the co-creation of the remarkable installations, the people feel strongly connected to the project. The project can be seen as a common cross-border project.
Local stakeholders: the municipalities of the villages (Sint-Gillis-Waas, Stekene,BE+ Hulst,NL) where the route of the soundwalk passed, gave the authorisation to realize our project on their territory and helped with the communication to the local public.
Scalda (School NL) technical students worked on the technical aspects of the sounddesign.
Zeeuwe Landschap (NL) and Natuur en Bos (BE) provided the dead trees of the forest and gave the possibilities to create an artistic project in the forest.
regional: Province of Zeeland (NL) and the disctrict of Flanders (BE) and De BUREN (cross-border BE-NL) funded the project.
Tamara Esseling (art producer,NL), Lars Senders (Sound designer,BE), Kris Drieghe (architect,BE)
The combination of the three developed the concept and managed the realization of their discipline. Professionals of each discipline were consulted to come to the final result.
Sounddesign:Lars Senders, studio mixers, musicians (Band: de Clingse Bossen)
App design: Wittig
beacon: Scalda (school NL) 3d print + wooddesign + ict
land-art: design+ build: Kris Drieghe, execution assistance: carpenter: Houtentiek, forest worker: Bast
graphic design + communication: Tamara Esseling, graphic assistance: Elke Drieghe
interviews people: Tamara Esseling + Lars Senders
The technical execution of each part had to be implemented in the others. The stories needed to match the sound, the beacons needed to fit the installations. The communication and graphics needed to connect with the audience and volunteers.
The preparation of the professionals , made sure the tasks and timing left for the volunteers were interesting and doable.
More than ninety volunteers contributed on the process. Since the project launched, more than thousand people have enjoyed the soundwalk. The active participation of the development process increased the awareness of the ecosystem of the forest. By working in and with the materials of the forest, the participants experience more than the single use such as personal recreation. Because of the many layers of the project, it connects with a very wide range of people. It is built with a low impact on the environment, it gives a personal story on an environment that needs to be handled with care.
The project's aim to connect with the local community and to make the result accessible to a wide range of people.
Technology:
We started a cross-over project with students of Scalda (Vlissingen NL) and young professionals (Wittig, NL) to create an app and beacons to provide the soundtracks on the specific locations in the forest. The practical project outside the school walls, was very inspiring for the students. For people who don’t have a smartphone, the developed 5 devices which work with GPS signal. This makes the experience accessible for everyone. The beacons and the devices combine ICT, woodcraft and 3d-printing.
The principle of the experience is that you walk the route which is on the app or on an out print. The moment you arrive at a borderbench, the app automatically makes connection with the integrated beacon and starts the soundtrack. The app remembers the points you have visited, and tracks your route. You can check your location, or do divide the walk over several days.
People who don’t know the project, can scan the qr-codes which are permanently attached to the benches. The qr-code leads you to the application or to the soundtrack of the location.
The integration of a digital layer in the landscape project, triggers the people who have no affinity with regular walks in nature.
We announced the project by pulling a tree logs trough the forest in a traditional way by using horses and local farmers. These logs were placed in a strategic way so an open space in the forest, can be used as a gathering place.
This location was exactly on the border of The Netherlands and Belgium. We activated this place by organising small events for people of both sides of the border and tell them about Bos-Grens and the possibilities to participate. By telling stories, by building or by telling other people about the project who might have a story to tell.
This led to an enormous amount of stories which all were recorded. These recording led to 10 Soundtracks, all very different and personal border experiences.
To make the project known for a bigger audience, we performed the soundtracks on several local events.
To make the project physically present, we invited locals, schools, international architecture students to work together on the subtle land-art installations made with the materials provided by the forest.
Craftmanship.
The building elements were prepared by a professional carpenter. The assembly of the elements were easy to learn, mostly manual tasks. This process made it possible to experience the building process and have a result. We split the task into doable tasks for anyone and all of them for at least two persons. There were no single person's tasks. This was the key to make sure there was interaction and communication in case something wasn't working out.
The experience of the final result, the soundwalk, could be experienced in avant-premiere by all the people who supported the project. By doing this we wanted them to encourage their network to come and find out for themselves what the project Bos-Grens is all about. Because of the big contribution of the volunteers, the project has a lot to offer for people who never visited the region before.
The process of capturing the local spirit of a place in the way Bos-Grens did, can empower the local community. By recording the stories and processing them into soundtracks, adding the layers of participative building to create small installations, can give the people the opportunity to add value to their own living environment and increase the general appreciation of an area.
There is an increasing feeling of polarisation, us versus them. The individual freedom and choice are keystones to our society.
A participative artistic process with strong local connection, in which everyone can 'learn by doing', can give the individual the feeling that 'we too' are part of present heritage and can contribute to a common future.
Bos-Grens is about a border. A border in general divides. In this case, this was no different. Specially in corona times, when they should the border down. We tried to find the common ground around the border and found it in the forest. We can say, now Bos-Grens is a permanent part of the environment, a new piece of common heritage around the border is created.
