dormouse nest by Hannes Wingate / art(ist) in nature

How can art enhance Urnaturs message?
We believe that art is one way of strenghten peoples experience of nature. Therefore we have been thinking of involving art and artists into our work. When we got in contact with Hannes Wingate everything fell into place. His thoughts about nests fitted like a glove into Urnaturs values.

Wingate sees the nest as a symbol of the individuals power to both decide what it needs and wants to create, based on a deep relationship and understanding of the land. Using the nesting process of birds as a creative strategy. Found materials, the discarded, flimsy and valueless, are fused together to create structure, space and often beauty. The making of the nest connects its maker and user to the land where it was made. As such it is a strategy to connect to nature and to places in much the same way as we have created shelter and homes for most of history. In the increasingly disconnected and abstract world this strategy or effect becomes in many ways more important than the object itself.  Hannes Wingate believes that being connected to nature changes us and lays a foundation upon which we make better decisions.

The nest symbolizes the basic needs: proximity, sense of context and creativity. It raises memories of being a child or in many cases living more simply or closer to the land.

For many years I had the idea I wanted to do “rural grafitti”. I just made up this expression, it appealed to me – what could that look like?
When Hannes explains the nest as ”graffiti architecture, a stab at the dominant paradigm and a vision of the world” – I smile inside myself – aah, that´s what it is :)

The dormouse nest is made all in hazel – in a living hazelnut tree.
Though it sways a lot it is very strong. You could easily sleep two people inside.