Common Ground

Common Ground installation.
UCL East, London 2025

UCL East Public Art Collection

Image: K Holst, 2025

Common Ground addresses questions of identity, nationalism and mental health through landscape and symbolism. Encompassing images and sounds of an ancient woodland, revered ancient oak trees from postcards and a suggestion of underlying unease, the work speaks to the traditions of English landscape, history, time and identity.

This installation of Common Ground contains a number of linked elements :

Great North Wood, 2022 - Photobook
Great North Wood 1, 2022 - print on vinyl (size - site specific)
GNW Field Recording, 2022 Running time 31:02 (looped)
Oak of England I, Oak of England II, Oak of England III, 2022, photo etchings, framed in oak
Perplexity 3, 2022, printed poster, rusted nails
media player, speakers, bench

Great North Wood 1, a detailed image of woodland with dense foliage including oak tree, image size site specific, installed as part of Common Ground 3m x 4m

Great North Wood 1, 2022, vinyl, size - site specific

Cover of the Great North Wood photobook, with title in black large block capital lettering on GF Smith colorplan Forest green paper, 165mm x 220mm x 16mm

Click for more about the photobook Great North Wood

Great North Wood, 2022, photobook

Great North Wood photobook, held open by hand, showing double page full bleed image of dense woodland with sunlight highlighting leaves and casting shadows

Great North Wood photobook, held open by hand showing double page full bleed image of dense woodland with ivy clad trunks & loose book insert listing birds

Great North Wood photobook, held open by hand, showing double page full bleed image of dense woodland with ivy in the foreground and view to distant trees

Oak of England I - a photo etching of supported oak tree stump with brick and concrete base, framed in natural oak. Part of the Common Ground installation

Oak of England I, 2022, photo etching, 42 x 52cm
Edition of 6 + 2AP, oak frame

Oak of England II - natural oak framed photo etching of oak tree stump supported by logs, surrounded by fencing. Part of the Common Ground installation

Oak of England II, 2022, photo etching, 42 x 52cm
Edition of 6 + 2AP, oak frame

Oak of England III - a photo etching of an oak tree stump, supported by straps and framed in narrow natural oak. Part of the Common Ground installation.

Oak of England III, 2022, photo etching, 42 x 52cm
Edition of 6 + 2AP, oak frame

Oak of England I and Oak of England III, 2022
Permanent display - School of Management Studies, UCL East, London 2025

UCL East Public Art Collection

GNW Field Recording, 2022
Running time 31:02 (looped)

Field recording by James Berrington
Sound editing by Sarah Nicol @thenananichol

Common ground installation (partial view), Oak of England I, II, III - three photo etchings of oak tree stumps, framed in oak and text poster Perplexity 3

Common Ground installation, Slade School of Art, 2022
Oak of England I, II, III, 2022 + Perplexity 3, 2022, poster (edition of 5) + rusted nails