© Deborah Robinson
June 2015. The focus of this residency was to carry out inter-disciplinary research centred around fieldwork and the discovery by Carl Linnaeus of the snail Radix balthica (the Wandering Snail) at a site in Gotland in 1758. Since, its discovery Radix balthica has been found to be widespread throughout North Western Europe where it inhabits a wide diversity of ecosystems, including temporary ponds and ditches, streams and rivers and brackish waters such as the Baltic Sea. Because of its widespread nature it has become a key species for scientific investigations aiming to understand what makes species resistant to environmental change.
During the residency the group’s field work retraced Linnaeus’ steps, visiting the original site, Hoburgen, at the southern tip of Gotland , where he discovered and named Radix balthica in 1758. For the days of the residency the BAC workspace/studio became a hybrid art/science space; used by Simon as an improvised laboratory for keeping an examining snails from the fieldwork, and as a studio for Debbie and David to view and consider the film and sound footage they were able to collect at each site. Outcomes from the residency for further exploration willinclude a collective, experimental mapping process using immersive audio visual material. This will focus on the wanderings of the collaborators and their attempt to destabilise human perspectives/agency in relation to the snailRadix balthica and its habitat.
© Deborah Robinson
