Have you seen the trees? They talk!
BioArt Village is situated in the old military buildings at the edge of Eindhoven. The buildings are not the only things with history on the terrain. The trees have been here for quite a while now. There is a lot of history to be found and stories to be told. Who better than to talk about this than the trees themselves?
At BioArt Laboratories we have been discussing the symbiocene. The trees on at BioArt village can help us re-value nature, and teach us more about living together in symbiosis. Maybe we have forgotten about the powers and strength hiding in nature. We, humans, have been seeing nature as a controllable material source. Our talking forest tells about the place, the passing of time and how to live with the trees in symbiosis. Through the years serval different trees have been growing their roots at BioArt Village. Some have been planted, some reached this place while birds carried their seed and dropped them here. The biodiversity at bioart village is big with both native and non native trees. To listen to the trees talk and tell there story visitors can scan the qr-codes on the little poles next to the trees. These codes will lead the visitor to the audio fragments.
At the gate of Bioart Village there are three big beech trees grading the entrance. Their nuts can be eaten and taste great roasted. Besides their good taste, they are filled with protein. Did you know they can also be used to make coffee? Suiting our needs for the bitter drink is not the only thing this tree can help us with. The tree its bark is antispetic. Meaning it can be used to disinfect our wounds. These big trees have been watching over the BioArt terrain for quite some time now, overseeing the street and the fruit trees at the phillips fruittuinen; they are happy to be joined by one of Theo Coenen’s artworks. Not only do they like art, writing is something they have been known for, because their wood is used in the paper making process. In german their name and the word for ‘book’ (buch), are almost similar.
The beech tree is not the only producing edible nuts the real scavenger will be happy on this terrain as it is also home to a chestnut and an oak. The little oaks can also be used to make coffee from. The chestnuts are also great roasted.
Some of these trees will show us the years they have spent growing by counting the rings they have inside. For the Taxus this is impossible. It might be a hollow tree, but it is still one with a lot of karakter. Its so-called ‘iron wood’ is preferably used for musical instruments. But don’t try to eat him. 50 to 100 grams of its leaves, roots or bark can be fatal for humans. It’s berries, on the other hand, taste great.
These are just a few of the unique species living on the BioArt Village terrain. Listing to the trees and hearing their point of view might offer us new and other idea’s to see and experience the world around us. We need to broaden our scope of idea’s in order to change our future and to be able to live in symbiosis.
