Transmission Spores by Magz Hall

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil was an enormous ash tree that harboured all the life in the universe a signifier of its power and resilience. For the last ten years an ash tree has propagated every available spot in Hall’s garden like a virile weed, she likens its resilience to radio which has already outlived video and the iPod.

The artist believes her personal experience of the ash tree highlights the resilience of the tree, she is hopeful that it may not completely disappear as feared by experts. This work takes poetry made during a workshop on ash dieback with Chris Poundwhite, that turned scientific descriptions of the disease and its spread, into a spore like radio composition reflecting the artists interactions with ash, and transmitted from the trunk of an infected tree for broadcast on FM into the gallery.

Transmission Spores, (2017)
Magz Hall
Mixed media
Courtesy of the artist

Online Ash Archive