The Interactive Forest

Abstract

The Interactive Forest engages with the heritage and landscape of the New Forest (an area of that covers one third of Hampshire) and involves generating digital content for exhibition, electronic publishing (pdf) and the Internet. The area has a rich history in terms of art and design as it was in the New Forest village of Boldre that William Gilpin developed critical analysis of the landscape and the “picturesque”. Later, the New Forest landscape became appropriated by cultures of the imagination, as travel to the countryside became more fluid with the onset of industrialisation. Work involves researching and working with the Archive based at the New Forest Visitors Center that houses texts and images relating to the natural and social history of this area. An exhibition has been booked within the gallery timetabled for November 2013 - this combines modern image making, interactive video and archive references