Salzburg Global Fellows Amanda Lovelee and Emily Stover share the report on their TreeTime project
Since November 2022, trees at Schloss Leopoldskron have been talking to guests, visitors, staff, and Fellows who wanted to share their thoughts with nature. Salzburg Global Fellows Amanda Lovelee and Emily Stover, working on behalf of PLUS/AND, launched their project TreeTime during the Salzburg Global program "Global Lessons on Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning". Brass plaques with QR codes were placed on several trees in the 17-acre “Schlosspark” to enable these anonymous conversations about the future.
TreeTime is part of a multi-site public art project called Future of Futures. This project uses interactive tools and methods to gather people’s visions for their city and the environment. It builds on the creative research the artists have been doing for years, primarily in Minnesota.
Amanda and Emily discovered the project idea when they realized that “climate change is hard to talk about on an emotional level because it often emerges from a place of fear for the future. We wanted to create a project that uses playful and reflective conversation to connect people to nature and let them dream in a way that’s rooted in optimism and interdependence. TreeTime asks people to see trees as their neighbors when they think about the future and to imagine a world where the human and non-human worlds are the same.”
One year later, the artists compiled a report on what the trees heard in their first year of research. Although they were initially unsure that people would be interested in talking to trees, the report proved them otherwise: “We were a bit surprised by how many people engaged with the project, that it seemed to bring them joy, and that they were able to be so open and vulnerable with the forest.”
The suitably-called “Forest Report” gathers some of the responses the trees got from their conversations. It notably showcases the optimism of those who participated, with 84% of the conversations indicating a positive outlook on the future.
Amanda and Emily pointed out that “given all of the political and environmental uncertainty we’ve been experiencing collectively, there are certainly plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about the future. As we were going through the beautiful responses and formulating a ‘report’ to give back, we felt more optimistic about humans building stronger relationships with nature. When love is there, everything feels possible.”
As advocates of the importance of care and slowing down, the artists find nature as a place for play, curiosity, and inspiration; they believe that talking with trees more often can help us learn about reciprocal care, resilience, and joy. They explained that they “ visit the Mississippi river to walk with the trees when we are seeking new ideas or are trying to find solutions in our work. Trees can be excellent friends when you need someone to listen, and we always come away from time in nature feeling hopeful and rejuvenated. If you don’t visit with trees often, we highly suggest reaching out to your nearby forest for friendship.”
TreeTime will remain in the trees of the Schloss Park for future guests to enjoy. You can also find additional materials, such as posters, postcards and the report in the Meierhof Café. If you want to see TreeTime in a forest near you, you can contact Amanda Lovelee and Emily Stover.
Salzburg Global Seminar, with support from the Bush Foundation and the McKnight Foundation, was proud to host at Schloss Leopoldskron artist residencies from selected Fellows from the Cultural Innovators Forum, a program that since 2013 has brought together cultural innovators and creative practitioners from around the world.
