Hutton research inspires artists behind digital installation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The artist collective behind a groundbreaking new digital installation at London’s Kew Gardens has credited research by The James Hutton Institute as part of their inspiration.
Of the Oak opened to visitors on Saturday 3 May, showcasing the story and inner workings of the Lucombe oak with a multi-sensory video installation.
The installation is Kew’s first-ever outdoor digital art commission and was designed by artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. According to the group’s director, Ersin Han Ersin, the piece was “deeply inspired” by research led by Hutton ecologist Dr Ruth Mitchell.
As a researcher, Ruth’s work has focussed on the cascading impacts of tree diseases on biodiversity. Collaborating with specialists on mammals, invertebrates, fungi, birds, bryophytes and lichens from the Hutton, the RSPB and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Ruth and colleagues produced a collated list of all 2,300 species supported by native oak trees across the UK. Two papers she published on this work in 2019 – OakEcol: A Database of Oak-associated Biodiversity within the UK and Collapsing Foundations: The Ecology of the British Oak, Implications of Its Decline and Mitigation Options – have been singled out for guiding Ersin and his team towards the oak, due to their focus on the diverse ecosystems and range of species supported by oak trees throughout the country.
Standing as a colossal 6-metre-high LED portal in the heart of Kew Gardens, the installation treats visitors to a 12-minute multisensory journey covering the transformation of one of Kew’s oldest oak trees across all four seasons. Audiences can peer beneath both bark and soil, learning about the unseen processes that sustain both the tree and the species that depend on it.
Visitors can actively influence the oak’s movements on screen by moving in front of it, and an online guided breathing meditation allows audiences to synchronise their breathing with the rhythms of the oak.
“It’s fantastic to have my work inspire something so unique and fascinating. At the Hutton, we’re always keen to see how our research is received, and sometimes you’re really surprised at what people come up with. I hope this installation can help foster a wider interest in biodiversity and help people understand how interconnected our trees are with so many other species.”
Dr Ruth Mitchell, The James Hutton Institute
The exhibition uses scientific data gathered by Kew and includes an online field guide with more information on the oak and the web of life it connects.
Speaking about the impact of her research on the project, Dr Mitchell said: “It’s fantastic to have my work inspire something so unique and fascinating. At the Hutton, we’re always keen to see how our research is received, and sometimes you’re really surprised at what people come up with. I hope this installation can help foster a wider interest in biodiversity and help people understand how interconnected our trees are with so many other species. I’ll definitely be coming along to see it for myself next time I’m in London.”
Ersin added: “As an artist collective, we seek emotional resonance in scientific stories – stories that connect us to the living world and, through emerging technologies, deepen our understanding of what it means to be something other than human. What Dr Mitchell and her colleagues revealed is the wondrous realisation that a tree is never an individual—it is a living network of relationships.
“Of the Oak is both a celebration of oak trees as living monuments to ecological relationships, and a call to action for their protection. We are deeply grateful for the guidance of the scientific community and the generous support of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the making of this work.”
Of the Oak runs from Saturday 3 May to Sunday 28 September at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Admission to the installation is free with a ticket for the gardens. More information can be found here.
