Harriet Parry | Duramen

The image of the cross section of a trunk reveals a landscape of concentric circles that the British artist has represented with a careful selection of flowers, accompanied by a particular soundscape composed of several sections and mixed sounds, collected in the grounds of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. Just as the heartwood “tells” the story of the tree, the
Mosque-Cathedral is the most beautiful and representative story of the history of the city, the heartwood of Cordoba.

This installation is also an ode to connectivity: trees and plants create subway communication networks to survive, as could well happen between the floral installation and the surrounding orange trees. The connections between flowers, sound and space multiply.

Thus, the music of the Cordoba Cathedral Choir brings imitative polyphony, in which a main note passes through different voices, highlighting the parallels between the communication of trees and our human societies. While the soothing sound of water represents the cycle of life, a backdrop of subtle
electronic pulsations brings to mind both the rhythmic beating of a heart and the synapses of the human brain and the subway networks of trees… A fusion that further intertwines the messages conveyed by Heartwood: connectivity, responsiveness, protection, support and wisdom.

“Trees connect and communicate, respond, protect and help each other, passing on knowledge to their descendants from generation to generation, adapting and surviving in our changing world.”
(Harriet Parry)