I started to develop the sound walk during the summer and autumn (2022) by first exploring the landscape as I moved my body along the path of the Tree Walk in Alexandra Park, breathing in the atmosphere and observing the trees within the landscape. I then began collaborating with the composer and multi-instrumentalist Black Astronaut. Once I selected the specific seven trees for the sound walk, we applied a form of ‘entangled listening’ to plants through recording the inner sounds of seven trees using specialist microphones. I researched the forgotten histories of each tree, excluded in colonial botany’s renaming and categorisation of these plants in Victorian times. Through the semi-autobiographical voice-over of Anna Woods, I resurrected these forgotten histories and the associated indigenous ecological practices. The voice-over was also developed through an engagement with critical plant studies in an attempt to convey the vast complexity, agency and intelligence of plants.

During the two accompanying sound walk events (that worked in partnership with the local arts organisation Arts on Prescription), I developed the interactive elements of the sound walk, to enable the participants to have a more reflective and embodied engagement with the more-than-human world. The reflective activities at the end incorporated producing reflective writing and co-created mixed media ‘Tree of Life’ collages.