bog bodies by bog bodies

Listen to it on the bog bodies bandcamp!
https://bog-bodies.bandcamp.com/album/bog-bodies

bog bodies is a collaborative project involving musician and sound artist joris frowein and visual artist jo willoughby.

the project reflects on the site and stories of the ackerdijkse plassen natuurgebied which is situated between rotterdam and delft.

we follow tangents, allowing the ackerdijkse plassen to become a place to imagine and dream, layering histories, conversations and sensations. taking slow time to watch birds, listen to wind in the reeds, swim in the nearby river. learning about the lakes as scars of peat extraction and the current maintenance of the nature area by natuurmonumenten.

the peat from the area once fuelled the furnaces for the royal delft pottery, and served as fuel for local farmers and working families. wetlands, bogs, peatlands have complex and curious histories not only in the netherlands but worldwide. wetlands are landscapes which hold folk tales and rituals, as well as being working landscapes and in more recent years, protected areas of ecological interest.

the story of peatlands/wetlands/bogs is also the story of climate change "Because peatlands prevent plant matter from decomposing, which would normally convert the organic carbon in the plant matter to CO2, they are the largest terrestrial carbon store."(1) the destruction of wetlands in turn releases a tremendous amount of co2 into the atmosphere.

Of course, much of the netherlands stands on drained wetland areas and so the relationship to this management of the landscape has been very important in the formation of the national identity. In the netherlands and further across europe evidence has been found of different practices related to bogs; preserved human bodies have been found, evidence of long wooden paths which lead seemingly to nowhere have been uncovered, and important objects which have been offered to the bogs have been discovered.

the ackerdijkse plassen itself is a small yet diverse area with ponds, marsh, forest, meadow and fields and an important site for migrating birds such as black-tailed godwit and black-winged stilt. as a watery landscape near to the city, it is a place which allows us to reflect on interconnected and interspecies wetland stories.


thanks to Lila and Kama for lending their voices.
thanks to Maurice Kruk, Roy van Beek and Kate Foster for taking time to talk about their passion for wetlands and nature areas with us.
thanks to gemma gore for sharing time outdoors through distance.
thanks to all the climate activists, such as those at re-peat who organised peat fest 2022 where i got to go to a cool workshop by chihiro geuzebroek.
thanks to people at bollenpandje for accommodating our performance of bog bodies.
thanks to the residents of oude leede who did lots of interesting research about ackerdijkse polder and made it publicly available.
especially thanks to the birds, butterflies, plants, water of the ackerdijkse plassen area who got us through a lonely tough time during covid and bring us joy with every visit.

For more information go to:
https://bogbodies.hotglue.me/

SEGADEATH is
Fantasy Synthesizer Music,
Dungeon Synth, Dystopian Electro and Ambient.
Your local synth hero.

Death to NSBM and NSDS

Non-Binary
Electronics From Rotterdam

Instagram
bogbodies.hotglue.me