WALKING OUT OF SLEEP: encounters with lichen territory
a book of multiple layers, that reflect the organism and the environmental conditions that they require to survive
a book of multiple encounters, from the controlled conditions of the herbarium, to wild wanderings
a book that can be read from multiple directions, or viewpoints, starting with science or experience
The book explores one woman’s relationship with Map Lichen and the places that they inhabit. Over a period of two years she travelled to locations across the UK to spend time with the lichen in often remote and challenging terrain. She walked and slept among the lichen, sensitising herself to the elements that these friendly green crusts need to survive. She made photographs and wrote poems. The ‘maps’ guiding her into lichen territory.
Alongside her fieldwork she spent time with displaced lichen. The Natural History Museum in London is home to half a million lichen specimens, looked after by the Curator of Lichens. 120 of these samples are Map Lichen collected across the UK from the 1800s. Each visitor to the collection reviews the files and leaves their own notes, suggestions and new samples… After all science, knowledge and the herbarium itself are not static.
£130 + P&P (incl. in the UK)
BUY
BORROW
Handmade edition of 60 books, signed and numbered by the artist
Published in September 2023
92pp, 47 images, 175x245mm
Lichen sample packet cover, single signature with three hole pamphlet hand binding
Risograph and EcoTank ink-jet printed on responsibly made papers from waste paper pulp and toxic algae. Print inserts on left-over paper stock. *
ISBN 978-1-8384772-2-6
*Full details at the bottom of this page
Events & Talks
Book launch and ‘in conversation’ with Olivia Edward - The Photobook Cafe, London
4 October 2023: 6-9pm
Olivia “Lilly” Edward is a writer who specialises in nature and the environment. For the last two years she has been running nature writing events and panel discussions at the Royal Geographical Society, and she continues to review and write regularly for their magazine. She is the co-founder of The More-Than-Human Book Club, a monthly discussion series that takes place online and at The Barbican.
Seismic Mother: Book Event - Hypha Studio, 50 Celebration Avenue, London
Saturday 16th September: 3pm
AGM Talk - The British Lichen Society, Nottingham
20 January 2024
Press
Additional images from the book can be seen here.
Testimonials
Tamsin Green's latest publication welcomes the reader into a poetic confluence of science and experience - of observation, enquiry and marvel at the beauty of nature and its persistently quiet existence - as well as a visual expression of the remote landscape she travelled, solo, on her many expeditions around the UK. Rich, monochrome images of crags and valleys evidence the palpable clean air and fog that are most beneficial to map lichen, and as we may come to realise, to the artist as well.
Reading Green's books sharpen the senses of perception and introspection, slowing down, taking the time to explore the natural world. In 'Walking Out of Sleep, Encounters with Lichen Territory', the elusive afterimage of map lichen spills over the many ages of geological time in the pages of the publication, where boulder and pebble, crag and bluff lose scale and temporality. Perhaps as the artist has done herself. "I wonder how long I would have to lie still for the lichen to live on me."
Christiane Monarchi, founding editor Photomonitor, founding co-editor Hapax
“Yellow map lichen, Rhizocarpon geographicum is a common widespread species in Alpine or arctic habitats, especially on exposed siliceous rocks. It is essential not to overlook our lichens and their biological diversity. It is critical to understand their contributions to our environmental cycles especially in the Anthropocene where most of their habitats are fast disappearing.
Tamsin Green’s book opens us to the fascinating world of lichens! I was amazed to see her artwork, narrations that take us to the depths of nature. She illustrates how yellow map lichens function, where and why they are found, and what practical importance they have. Her work is beyond science, but still within science.”
Gothamie Weerakoon, Senior Curator of Lichens and Slime Moulds, The Natural History Museum, London
The edition has been made with the following principles in mind: Design out waste and the use of harmful materials, make locally, prioritise recycling.
Printing
The cover and index pages were Risograph printed in East London, a couple of miles from the artist / publisher’s home. The prints were delivered by bicycle. The Risograph ink is made using waste rice bran oil and requires no heat and very low power for printing.
The body of the book is inkjet printed on demand by the artist using an EcoTank printer. These printers have tanks that can be refilled from bottles of water soluble dye-based ink, eliminating single-use plastic cartridges.
Risograph: Duplikat, London (UK)
Inkjet: Epson EcoTank ET-8550
Paper
The book and print insert sizes were optimised to the paper sizes to minimise paper usage and waste through trimming. Approx. 70% of the book is printed on standard A4 and A3 paper that utilise the full sheet and require no trimming.
The book uses three papers; Alga Carta, a paper made from toxic algae blooms in the lagoon of Venice (also chosen to reflect Algae as one of the partners in the lichen symbiosis); Colorset, made by Fenner from 100% recycled paper pulp; Colorplan, a paper responsibly made by the James Cropper Mill in the Lake District for GF Smith (UK). The paper for the insert prints varies, much like the paper substrates used in the herbarium, and are drawn from the artist’s left over stock and samples, making each book unique.
The book covers are made from lichen paper sample packets used by the Lichen herbarium at the Natural History Museum, London. The cover packet's function is to protect the book, as it would the lichen, and therefore it will wear and wrinkle.
Favini Alga Carta Ivory (Distributed by Fenner in the UK)
Fenner Colorset Light Grey
G.F Smith Colorplan Chartreuse
Packaging
Recycled cardboard book wraps from Priory Direct. These wraps adjust to the size of the book to minimise the packaging size for transportation.
The books are wrapped in bubble wrap and other packing materials reclaimed from studio deliveries.