Tales of Isolation and Cultivation in Northern Scotland
Set off the coast of Loch Hourn, Scotland, the project narrates the unique practices of three isolated cultivators. As atonement for past unsustainable practices, each cultivator wears a ritualised suit that causes discomfort to the body. The suits scale into tailored dwellings, navigating relationships between humans and nature.
Chapter One
The Lost Coast of Loch Hourn
Upon arriving at the croft, the cultivator began to explore the site utilising abnormal travel methods. It was clear that this inhabitant was lured in by the sheep and soon began polluting the land with constructed outposts. However, nature disagreed with the construction and tore the outpost down with a violent storm - The cultivator had gotten a true taste of the unforgiving environment.
The cultivator had begun their extraction of the local sheep’s wool yet the inhabitant exhibited themes of atonement. The cultivator had created a suit that was clearly uncomfortable through the integration of stilts and absurdly large shepherd’s canes. Whilst the wool extraction suit enabled the gathering of sheep, it was often bogged down throughout the croft. As days passed, the cultivator had learned their lesson of outpost constructions and created a new piece, however, only time would tell if this outpost could resist the Scottish climate.
Chapter Two
Fishing for Scales
The initial pieces of the dock began to formulate. Once again, the cultivators began to inhabit a piece of nature they do not own. The cultivator was timid at first, their fishing hooks seemed to prove unsuccessful. Yet as time progressed, the human began to catch more fish. Unfortunately, as the fish were captured, the cultivator’s true intentions were revealed. The fish were butchered. Their scales were taken as a form of a trophy and hung to provide a facade for the fisherman’s hut. The flesh of the fish was eaten by the cultivator and the fish’s bones were boiled down to create a glue substance. The relationship between the human and wildlife was clearly dominated by the earthly inhabitant.
Chapter Three
The Beekeepers Landscape
The second cultivator soon made their way across the landscape. As the new arrival crossed the rugged highlands, honeybees whizzed past the human. This was the beginning of the honey cultivation. Unfortunately, at the conception of this idea, the honeybees had gone into hibernation, a ritual that would later be adopted by the cultivator. Nevertheless, the newly adopted beekeeper created an ornamented series of hives and outposts which reflected the beautiful amber coloration of the honey. These hives were accompanied by a honey suit that was constructed with a cane webbing and overlaid with layers of honey.
During the cultivator’s first season, honey production was scarce. The bees had not been as attracted to the honey hive structures however, this did not deter the beekeeper. Lavender was planted closer to the hives which resulted in a pollen supply for the bees. Over the following years, the hives had grown to fruition and began to demark the Scottish landscape.
Initially, honey was used as a building material for the beekeeper’s cottage. However, as time passed the cultivator became addicted to bathing within the glistening substance as they believed it had intense healing properties and could inflict immortality.
Chapter Four
A Ritual for Trees
The third and final cultivator arrived at the croft during the Winter. The new member watched the other cultivators for a couple of days before venturing further into croft. The Winter climate had forced the cultivator to traverse through the burns of the site whereby a fascination for the trees arose. The new member had found their piece of nature to defile and cultivate.
Within days, the trees were territorialized with metal tubes linked into a piped system. Sap flowed through the pipes and to the cultivator’s newly created suit. As a form of atonement, the cultivator flapped the wings of her chair and blew air onto the trees in hopes of attaining more sap from the mutilated trees. It is unlikely that this sap dance was successful in obtaining more sap yet the cultivator deeply believed in the powers of the dance.
Chapter Five
The Worm of Earth and Foliage
It didn’t take long for the cultivator of sap to also become the cultivator of earth and foliage. As the Winter months drew to an end, the cultivator began to craft the earth collecting suit. The cultivator had designed the suit to glorify the typical earthworm however, the grace and discreteness of the earthworm were not harnessed. The worm suit carved its path through the landscape, leaving a tilled soil trail.
The outer skin of the Scottish landscape had been breached. Yet to atone for the unearthing, the cultivators would walk through these paths. Their feet would be covered in mud and often the routes did not lead where they wanted to go. In turn, a slow form of traversing the landscape was formed. Additionally, the collected earth and foliage were not wasted - once the sacks were filled with soil, they were utilised as a building material for the three cultivator’s cottages. In many cases, the skin of the earth had become the skin of the cottages.
Chapter Six
The Beekeeper’s Cottage
The cultivator of honey had made their mark on the croft through the implementation of hives spread throughout the landscape. Yet the cultivator needed a place to inhabit and consume the collected honey; it seemed fitting that the cultivator of honey would create a construction derived from the honey basket of a bee and surround it with plantings that would attract the bees.
The cultivator ravished the land. The sacred soil was extracted and discarded between the columns of the cultivator’s intrusive dwelling in the land of bees. To further attract the bees, the disgraceful cultivator had planted a collection of colourful bushes. Of course, the interior of the dwelling is fit for that of a person who wants to retreat from the harsh Northern climate of Scotland. The innate retreat was evident within the sleeping chamber of the cottage that resembled a prenatal architectonic.
Returning to a Blossoming Hovel
The Sleeping Chamber