A Field guide to Geoarbology

Matt O'Rourke

Summary
Final work

I am an illustrator, printmaker, curator and writer currently completing my MA in Illustration. My current project explores themes around giving non-humans a voice, memory and landscape. This has involved experimenting with different methods such as photography, installation and film making. I enjoy learning new ways to communicate and it is also important for my work to be playful and speculative, aiming to challenge how our imaginations can be a valuable tool in shaping a better future.

I am an illustrator, printmaker, curator and writer currently completing my MA in Illustration. M...

CollegeCamberwell College of Arts
CourseMA Illustration
Graduation year2025

This project seeks to question the relationship with our landscapes. Why can't we use imagination to question and speculate on what memories our landscape hold, in place of the narrow scientific definitions, that often do not serve the non-humans of this environment?

Set in an imagined world where a forgotten science of the 70s known as "Geoarbology" made possible the ability to listen to the hidden histories of the landscape. At a particular site, we learn of historic walks roman legions took, alongside the scuttles of extinct insects. Through listening to nature, human and non-human hierarchies are equalised. I believe imagination is key to unlocking new ways of giving importance to our dwindling natural environments.