Apple Path
In October 2019 I started making a piece of Land Art in the field beside my home. This was largely inspired by my interest in Land Art and working with nature but also from the desire to make an ephemeral artwork that represents the time my family has lived in this location over 20 years. Wanting to create another layer of history on the surface of the ground I positioned thousands of apples in a linear form.
There is a folklore story about the old farmer who used to live here, that he walked up the field every day to the pub and back again and the repetition of his footfall scored a path into the ground. It was the site of this path that I chose to place the apples from the neighbouring orchard at harvest time when the free material was readily available and only destined to rot on the ground.
After my initial control over the site and the positioning of the apples, I walked away leaving the material alone to compost and be reabsorbed into the ground. Nature and animals would sculpt, move and alter it. This process was recorded by photography, aerial, camouflage camera and still shots, randomly taken throughout the lifetime of the artwork. After 6 months the apples had returned to the ground and disappeared. The lasting effects will not be known for many years. Maybe a row of apple trees will grow and future owners will wonder why. Or a line of lush green grass will appear fortified by the intense nutrients from the displaced apples?
