Matt Moser-Clark
The accuracy of
nature
'An active line on a walk, moving freely, without goal'
- Paul Klee
A seed
What satisfaction can a man gain from planting a seed?
After the deed, the entirety of that trees becoming is left to the very accurate nature that would have it become at all. A tree, after all, becomes so by its environment, by its design, by its accuracy. A man’s joy is therefore described by the rain and the sun and the tree in the image of both.
This ability of nature to be complete holds within it all the elegant language of this world. All that can be said of the work of the nature can be found in a single leaf separated from its mother.
The wind so loved the bird, it lifted its wings and allowed it flight. The rain so loved the tree, that it fell from the heavens to quench its thirst. The sun so loved the earth, it used its rays to breathe a summers warmth through winter days.
Yet how may I make sense of this continuous cycle beyond my body?
One must set a boundary; a line to allow perspective.
The delineation of tree from tree is set simply by some measurement a person may call forest or wood, acre or hectare. This is unimportant, unless for the image given to those who bare no personal witness to the grouping.
That I say, 'a mile is a mile', some fellow on another continent may imagine the intended scale. That I call a forest a forest, allows him to relate to a group of trees he knows to be so.
However measurements are made it should evoke more than simple measured space. I say that with the effect that one may become lost in a forest but not so in a grove or coppice.
And so to the canopy.
If one may see the night sky in some completeness, one may guide oneself, understand his position on the earth and make judgements so. If leaves obscure the appearance of the stars this may give him cause to guide himself by other means.
Senses beyond vision are required.
Seek out a tree, and let it teach you stillness.
- Eckhart Tolle
A map guided by a sense of where north is, without vision, is one for the soul and we may find the knowledge of the soul deep within our bodies rather than the presumed knowledge of the cartographer.
So I offer this work, not as an arborist, but a seeder.
To give a possibility of what nature may describe on her own, more pure, essential and accurate than any idea and thought conceived by the minds of this earth, and as so remain the most essential condition.
The peace found in paying attention to an individual leaf on a tree is equal to paying attention to a single breath in a lifetime of breaths. This work is a walk, documented movement of mass tracking across field, a path that leads to a door.
Many single trees make a forest.
It is the account of their singularity that they understand their place in the world. Through the repetition of the single, we allow a position to be held, as a mantra begins in singularity.
The seed, in all its complexity, is a single form that moves to ground its roots and raise its first leaf triumphantly.
Let us begin with a single tree.
Let us plant it amongst its community, to be nurtured by its own nature.
Let us repeat this action and allow ourselves to break with our ego. 10 billion individuals responsible for the individual life, and by its nature we describe its significance.
I am taught of the importance of the collective soul, an undeniable power this is indeed.
Yet how may society speak in chorus? Such division of opinion is natural as what maybe described as socialism may deny the ego any understanding. This ego requires separateness to remain if only for a time. It is fearful of a collective who would see its power diminish. I suggest there is a power delivered by the single in aid of the collective, none more prevalent than the connection to the earth.
To plant a tree offers this connection, it is a marvellous knowledge.
Let us start with the idea that we as individuals can be responsible for giving birth to that connection.
It is important we choose how to locate our site for planting, what species we choose and how we might perform the act. In a some environments there's seemingly few choices in this. Yet when giving birth we may understand that there is rarely the most opportune circumstance for this.
Allow yourself to look deeply at what is familiar and see its uniqueness. Look to spaces towards the edges of places you know; between houses, between public and private, transitional spaces where you walk without looking, here you can pay new attention.
Inspiration is in the in breath.
The act of giving birth has been the most significant to this life. It seems that in this instance the act is played in the role of parent or teacher, and as so, we should not overstate our role beyond the planting.
This work is about motion and being humanly present in order to witness the pausing of a moment stretched out beyond our natural life.
It is about feeling empathy for a world of movements and as so the commitment I make can only be to place the seed in the soil, but be witness to its life.
That I may plant one tree is as significant as if all the world follow this act. The role acts out a delineation of space described as a graphic response to the forces of this earth.
The artist is human, himself nature, part of nature within natural space.
- Paul Klee
Over the next weeks and months i will continue to plant trees.
If you'd like to find out more information about the this or other projects please send me a message using the form.
thank you for spending time here
Matt