Exhibition "Forest Connection"

For one month (August 2018), simply equipped with a Sony Bridge Camera and an electric bike, Astrid Etihad has been researching and documenting the activity of Vindeln's local forests, intuitively capturing on site a set of fine visual media, sensorial and ethereal impressions.

In parallel with discussing with an eclectic range of actors the complex challenges of contemporary forest management, Astrid independently conducted an interdisciplinary research endeavor at the intersection of natural and social science, semiology, aesthetics and visual studies, tackling the issue from multiple perspectives.

The series of selected photographs and experimental films displayed in the 'Forest Connection' exhibition arise from Astrid's creative contemplation of the very idea of the "forest" and what it can manifest in the realm of our Western collective psyche. Shot during fieldwork in the forest and on "clear-cuts", before being edited in studio, they can focus either on vegetal textures or movements, questioning the aesthetics criteria a "beautiful forest" should include by proposing alternative frameworks to the common imagery associated with the idea of the forest.

'Forest Connection' visual insights intend as well to deepen the way we collectively perceive forest ecosystems, beyond consensual interpretations of what humans call "nature", a Western philosophical idea whose definition is very much questioned by numerous Western contemporary thinkers.
Living at an "hypermodern" era characterized by advanced, limitless technological developments and saturated by ubiquitous connected screens stimuli that constantly distract us, the 'Forest Connection' viewing public will be invited to apprehend each image as a platform for introspective ventures towards more meaningful connection to ourselves and the planet we inhabit