Video Nation

The artists working on the project were some of the country’s most exciting sound artists and composers. From April to September they researched the garden and its plants, building and composing and working with community groups and schools around Oxford as their work progressed.

David Rothenburg

David Rothenburg www.whybirdssing.com

Associate Professor of Philosophy, David Rothenberg is known as a writer, philosopher, ecologist, and musician, speaking out for nature in all aspects of his diverse work. He is both a respected authority on deep ecology, and a jazz clarinetist known for his integration of world music with improvisation and electronics.

Robert Jarvis

Robert Jarvis www.robertjarvis.co.uk

Robert Jarvis works as a sound artist and is involved in a wide range of creative activities. As a keen collaborator he has worked with ‘experts’ from many other disciplines, including outside of the arts; however, a significant amount of his work includes engaging with those who do not see themselves as specialists. His projects have at their centre the creation and performance of new work and often involve some form of social engagement as he collaborates with local people towards the creation of an installation or performance. This may take many forms, from conventional music performance through to interactive multi-speaker sonic environments.

Rob Kesseler

Rob Kesseler www.robkesseler.co.uk

Throughout his career Rob Kesseler has worked with representations of the natural world, and plants and flowers in particular. Initially inspired by medieval stylistic illustrations, his work progressed into a colourful and sometimes humorous commentary on the way in which plant material has been appropriated by the decorative arts. More recently he has sought to draw upon the potential of contemporary botanical science to create images that lie somewhere between science and symbolism, in which the complexities of representing plants are concentrated into mesmeric visual statements.