Artwork looks at wood’s heritage

A new major art project by Ordinary Culture opens within a nature reserve this month.

The Duke’s Wood Project can be seen in Eakring, at the UK’s former first on-shore oil field from August 31 to September 29.

The exhibition features seven new pieces by Folke Koebberling and Martin Kaltwasser, Alec Finlay, Anne-Mie Melis, Stephen Turner, Institute for Boundary Interaction, Louise K. Wilson, and Dan Robinson. It features special events by artists Jo Dacombe and Alison Lloyd.

Ordinary Culture director Sam West said: “The Duke’s Wood Project began as a long-term research interest looking at the history and socio-political significance of Duke’s Wood and the fascinating industrial heritage of the area.

“Duke’s Wood is now a nature reserve boasting a rich and thriving ecology, but once played host to a large-scale secret military operation — the drilling and excavation of our most prized yet politically contentious natural resource — crude oil.

“It was this unlikely coming together of two seemingly opposed things, heavy industry and ecology, that attracted us to the site and has continued to provide a basis for detailed critical reflection.”

Sam said they decided to have an artist residency programme, inviting nine contemporary artists to spend time in the wood at different times of the year

“The Duke’s Wood Project is the result of over a year of such exploration and enquiry and the artworks you will find around the wood are manifestations of a sustained period of research undertaken by each of the artists involved,” he said.