 Installation photograph by Malcolm Cochrane              |
...In 1982 the craggy little bastard gumwood - a species endemic to St Helena - was believed to have been extinct for over 150 years. A local botanist and conservationist named Stedson Stroud was out walking one day on Horse Pasture, when a swarm of bees attracted his attention. They led him straight to a single tree... The video Bastard Gum: A Natural Monologue recounts an investigative journey to rediscover the critically endangered Bastard Gumwood tree on St Helena. A lethargic elderly gentleman calmly ruminates on the frustrations of tracking a notoriously fickle species, occasionally punctuating his monologue with sentences of dubious intent, from the relative safety of a rocking chair. A chorus of Mynah birds offers an ambiance throughout. HD video, duration 08:06mins, 2010 Acting by David Dixon, filming by Paddington Rutherford Brown, editing by Milli Harvey and Patricia Valencia, additional acting by Toffee the Tortoise.
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