Lifescape
Alice Ladenburg

The environmental crisis calls for a closer connection to nature and our local landscapes. Studies show that increased awareness of the natural world fosters greater ecological stewardship. In Lifescape, artist and researcher Alice Ladenburg explores our entanglement with nature, blending scientific methods with artistic practice to invite deeper understanding of shared landscapes and more sustainable futures.

Commissioned by East Quay, Lifescape focuses on six ecologically, culturally, and historically significant sites across Somerset, showcasing the region’s diverse terrain. Ladenburg combines advanced LiDAR scanning—used to create 3D models of landscapes—with filmed scenes and a soundscape featuring a range of insights from local experts. This interplay between scientific imaging and delicate close-up footage, audio recordings and interviews, highlights the colour and texture of the local landscape, and offers a striking journey through the overlooked details of Somerset’s environment.

The journey begins in Watchet, where cliffs reveal layers of Jurassic and Triassic rock. It continues inland to Bats Castle, an Iron Age hillfort near Dunster, whose circular ramparts emerge clearly in Ladenburg’s imagery. Next, we explore a derelict mine on the Brendon Hills, remnants of the 19th-century Mineral Line now slowly reclaimed by nature. We then visit a local permaculture farm, highlighting regenerative approaches to agriculture and more harmonious relationships between people and land, offering an alternative to dominant industrial farming.

The journey concludes in Horner and Culbone Woods, and Culbone Church, among remnants of Britain’s ancient temperate rainforest. Once part of a vast forest stretching across the western seaboard of the British Isles, these rare ecosystems—home to mosses, ferns, lichens, and epiphytes (a plant that grows on another plant)— have been dramatically reduced by deforestation and grazing. The point cloud imagery and filmed footage capture the dense canopies and lush understory, emphasising their ecological richness and the urgency for preservation.

Through Lifescape, Ladenburg invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with the more-than-human world. Merging storytelling, technology, and scientific insight, the installation expands our awareness of Somerset’s rare and beautiful environments and the cyclical relationship between human habitation and natural succession.

The exhibition continues in Gallery 2, where Ladenburg explores these landscapes through photography, samples, and mapping, encouraging personal engagement with the places that shape our shared environment.

About Alice Ladenburg
Alice Ladenburg combines storytelling and scientific methods to explore how we relate to the natural world. Working across multiple disciplines, she uses artistic practice to shift perspectives and foster a deeper engagement with our environment.

Her projects have been presented at institutions including Oxford University, Edinburgh University, Central St Martins, Wageningen University, and RADIUS Centre for Contemporary Art and Ecology. Her work has also been featured at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Alice studied Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art and Cultural Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has received support from organisations including Creative Scotland, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), the Mondriaan Fund, Stimuleringsfonds and CBK Rotterdam (NL). She lives and works in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Alice Ladenburg would like to thank everyone at East Quay and all who have contributed to the research and exhibition, as well as the National Trust, Exmoor National Park, Jeremy Cooper, Anderson Ferreira, and Rafi. Finally, thanks to Ivo and his extraordinary attention to tiny things—and to all the more-than-human world depicted in these landscapes.

Curator - George Harwood Smith
Film Credits - Animation and Editing: Ollie Palmer ; Camera, Sound Recording and Editing: Cecile Embleton ; LiDAR Scans: Jens van der Zee ; Sound Design: Leonardo Cauteruccio
Interviews: Phil Gannon (Mineral Line Association), Dr Andy King (geologist), Sam Lee (folk singer), Tim Lyddon (forager), Jim Nicholas (The Market House Museum, Watchet), Martin Maudsley (ecologist and storyteller), Cerys Rivett (permaculture farmer), and Pat Wolseley (lichenologist)
Technical Support - AV Technician: Rupert de Renzy-Martin ; Exhibition Technician: Jon England

East Quay would also like to thank the following people:
Assistant Curator: Millie Laing-Tate; Administration and Evaluation Officer: Lottie Mann; Natural Pigment Specialist: Susannah Crook; Display Design: Jeffrey Hart, George Harwood Smith, and PEARCE+.

With support from: Mondriaan Fund / CBK Rotterdam / Wageningen University

The video installation was made with support from:
Sound design: Leonardo Cauteruccio (sound designer, filmmaker)
Camera, sound recording and editing: Cecile Embleton (artist, filmmaker)
Animation and editing: Ollie Palmer (artist, filmmaker),
LiDAR scans: Jens van der Zee (researcher, Wageningen University)

Image credits: Alice Ladenburg, with Cécile Embleton (footage stills) and Jens van der Zee and Ollie Palmer (point clouds)

Exhibition images: Jesse Wild