In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we venture into the forest on the
Peelrandbreuk
in Boekel, the Netherlands. Recorded during a forest walk on a warm summer day in June 2023, the episode features visual artist Michiel van Bakel and ecovillage founder Ad Vlems. The Peelrandbreuk, a geological fault line, is clearly visible in the landscape due to variations in elevation. During our walk, we had intriguing conversations around the local area and van Bakel’s interactive artworks.
Michiel van Bakel studied astronomy, photography, psychology, and visual arts. He expresses himself through video, sculptures, and installations, conveying a fascination with the tension between humans and technology, as well as the perception of time within our disrupted ecosystems. Working with tools such as cameras, scanners, and image processing algorithms, he aims to extend his senses and visualises things that were previously unseen. For more on his work, see: https://www.michielvanbakel.nl/.
Interviewer: Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
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Language note: This interview takes place in Dutch.
This radio episode was produced by the Smart Forests project funded by the European Research Council. Smart Forests is led by Professor Jennifer Gabrys and is based in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge.
Header image: Michiel van Bakel’s artwork ‘Onderland’, retrieved on 23 April 2024, from https://www.michielvanbakel.nl/onderland/
Smart Forests Atlas materials are free to use for non-commercial purposes (with attribution) under a
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
To cite this radio episode:
van Bakel, Michiel and Michelle Westerlaken "Michiel van Bakel: Visual Artist in Forest Landscapes", Smart Forests Atlas (2024), https://atlas.smartforests.net/en/radio/michiel-van-bakel. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12166247.