Forms of Intelligence
a film by Knowle West Media Centre
Director & Producer Martha King
Composer & Sound Designer Joseff Harris
Director of Photography & Editor Alistair Campbell
Associate Filmmaker Dee Hassan
Card Designer Kaajal Modi
Podcast Creators Tatiana Powell & Lewis Campbell
What can we learn from animal & plant intelligence?
Through 2020 community activists, artists, and researchers, with specialisms in: spiders, trees, funghi, butterflies, soil, bees, dogs, birds, robotics and visual arts, were invited to participate in on and offline co-creation activities facilitated by Martha King (Arts Programme Manager at KWMC) and Nicole Foster (researcher at DCRC).
Participants received physical packages in the post, including magnifying glasses & binoculars. After meeting online they paired up and set each other creative challenges to help them explore ‘intelligence’ from a perspective they weren’t familiar with: for example, birdwatchers learned about insect intelligence and tree champions about butterflies! Raising thought-provoking questions such as what is ‘success’ for a bird? The whole group took part in online co-creation sessions attempting to think through the perspective of other species and imagine new systems designed to benefit all living things.
The insights from the co-creation activities were transformed into a beautifully illustrated set of inspiration cards for co-species care, by artist Kaajal Modi. Designed to help us think differently, see from different perspectives, and deeply consider who or what is being impacted by our decisions.
As part of the project, we also created a series of podcast interviews with people from Knowle West, Bristol, Berlin, Kent, and Colombia. Knowle West resident and digital intern Tatiana Powell made the podcasts, having to record them remotely through lockdown, supported by KWMC producer Lewis Campbell.
You can download the cards and accompanying booklet HERE
You can listen to all the podcasts HERE
Commissioned by Knowle West Media Centre & Digital Cultures Research Centre
Film produced by: Eight
Thank you to
Ben Barker, Joanna Bryson, Charli Clark, Mya Rose Craig, Nicole Foster, Edmund Hunt, Richard Layzell, Kasia Molga, Sylvia Rimat, Luisa Ruge & Jim Smith.