In 2022, Lauren Gault was invited by ATLAS and Tuath – a cultural project exploring land and place relations with James Oliver, at 11 Fàsach, Glendale – to visit the former croft at Fàsach and to think about the question: “If the land could speak and you were listening, what would you say back?”
Together, we are now planning a range of sculptures, gatherings and events exploring folkloric, paleontological, political and other histories underfoot at Fàsach (loosely translated as wilderness, wooded underworld, wild place) – and the ways Fàsach connects with other places.
Lauren’s work engages with many different fields, including agricultural policy, biomaterials, palaeontology, archaeology, and sound. Lauren is interested in delving into canine and lupine histories in Skye (learning more about former wolf pits and fossil finds), rewilding, methods of signage and communication, and Skye landscape decisions over long time periods.
Drawing connections between issues such as historical bans on crofters owning dogs, the contentions of rewilding (without ‘repeopling’), changes in community and land uses, and other landed histories – we will experiment with different ways of encountering objects and voices in the landscape, and ways of measuring ‘place’.
Read on to find out more about the various people involved in the sculptural research so far.
With support from Henry Moore Foundation and Creative Scotland Open Fund.
