More on Echo Wood

An idea takes root

The initial idea of Echo Wood came about when artist Luke Jerram read about Avon Needs Trees’ plans to create the South West largest new woodland in a generation, Lower Chew Forest.

Luke was intrigued by the idea of a work of art that would develop and evolve over a remarkably long time period, potentially across many generations. His initial inspiration for the design came from the circles that naturally appear in nature at every scale, from the orbits of the planets, ripples in a pond, right down to the shape of the human iris. There was the possibility of converging walkways and a meeting space at the centre, a place to reflect and learn, to come together to meet and celebrate.

And so a collaboration was born. Avon Needs Trees’ Head of Woodland Alister Wynn worked with Luke on developing the design. This took into account species that would be in keeping with wider plans for Lower Chew Forest; UK native trees that would maximise benefits for biodiversity. There were practical considerations like suitable distances for planting, how understory might be affected, longer term maintenance and resilience. Planning had to take into account more extreme weather events brought on by climate changes and higher temperatures in the future. 

Creating a mock up

An interesting question arose. How to tell the story of Echo Wood, when it would take years to start filling out? How could we represent the artwork now in a way that encapsulated the themes and community participation that the wood would later foster.

We landed on the idea of creating a to scale mock up of Echo Wood. The exact location of planting each tree has to be marked out using a GPS device accurate to around 3m. Using these points we could create a visual representation to give an impression of how the wood might unfold.

Working with 12 community groups across the region including schools, local residents and a Muslim women’s group in East Bristol, we decorated 365 recycled paper lanterns with images of leaves, flowers and other inspiration from nature. These were arranged in the exact position of the trees with candles placed and lit in each. As dusk fell, a nightglow vision of the artwork came to life…

You can see more about the making of Echo Wood in our film