The Hissing Folly looks at Durham Region’s ecological landscape and poses critical questions around human relationships with those deemed ‘invasive species’, specifically phragmites (European common reed). The project embodies the colonial, consum
With the guidance of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA), a collaborative harvest was conducted for the removal of invasive phragmites from the Thickson’s Woods Land Trust in Durham Region. A team of community volunteers assembl
The final piece is a pyramidal folly, thatched with common reed in the reverse as a nod to the absurdity of the phragmites story in North America. A folly is a functionless architectural form that was popularized in the UK in the 18th century. The p
The production crew for The Hissing Folly includes assistance by : Fraser Smith (phragmites removal); Eliot Callahan (building); Harry Knight (thatching); Peter Swanson , Andrew Herron , Sarah May Taylor and Karun Ramani (material handli
The interior of the folly is filled with the sound of dense phragmites reeds blowing in the wind. Field recordings from Thickson’s Woods oscillate in a circular sound installation around the patron. The darkened interior emulates that of the phragmi
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The phragmites-colonized marsh at Thickson’s Woods, Whitby. Photo by Cole Swanson.
The community harvest included a team of volunteers to remove and bundle reeds into yelms - a traditional form employed over centuries in thatching practices throughout the UK. Photos by Jamie A. McMillan
Post-harvest reed-clearance, Thickson’s Woods, Whitby. Photo by Cole Swanson.
Reed yelms drying in the VAC Loft Gallery, December, 2019.
The yelm horses included in the exhibition were employed in the field to contain and bundle reed for transport. Horses designed and built by Harry Knight.
Hammering thatched reed in the inverse - a nod to the concept of human folly. Should the structure be relocated outdoors, rain water would be captured and delivered into the folly’s interior. Photo by Harry Knight.
Photo by Harry Knight.
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The total height of the folly is over 15 feet - the same height that invasive phragmites can grow in Canada. Without other organisms competing with it, phragmites in North America grow far taller and more densely than in the United Kingdom.
The screening space for The Hissing Folly film, which traces the entire production of the artwork. Opposite the film is a library of reading materials on phragmites, sustainable ecologies, and other environmental publications provided by the Central
The Hissing Folly film, by Jamie A. McMillan
Photo by Cole Swanson.
Photo by Cole Swanson.
BUT A THICK GROWTH OF WHISPERING REEDS BEGAN TO SPRING UP THERE, AND THESE, WHEN AT THE YEAR'S END THEY CAME TO THEIR FULL SIZE, BETRAYED THE SOWER, FOR, STIRRED BY THE GENTLE BREEZE, THEY REPEATED HIS BURIED WORDS OVI
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