Retreat Activities

superFutures presents Nature’s Depot a work-in-progress

Led by Gem Barton, superFUTURES is a research-led Masters unit at the Royal College of Art that focuses on spatialising futures. The team of tutors and students prioritize worldbuilding and filmmaking as tools to explore the spatial, behavioural and planetary parameters of future Supply Chains.

'Nature’s Depot' is a work-in-progress exhibition showcasing 'future artefacts' that feature in speculative spatial design theses' of the 2024-25 student cohort. This year, design research projects explore the complex changing relationships between trade, nature and their impacts on space.

This is collaboration with the UK government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Breathing with the Forest

In Breathing with the Forest, created by the artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, we are invited into the damp light and rippling soundscape surrounding a majestic Capinuri tree and its neighbouring species. Conceived as an open-eyed meditation, the installation brings us into an experience of deep continuity and reciprocity with the Colombian Amazon rainforest. As we synchronise our breath with the pulsing rhythms of the rainforest, our bodies expand to meet the forest as a whole, and the breathing planet becomes an extension of our human selves. In this moment of communion, Breathing with the Forest nurtures a sense of connection and interdependence that brings us into deeper relation with our fellow living beings. Credit: Sandra Ciampone.