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Tune into nature

Join us as we mark the Earth's big day and the launch of the Tune Into Nature Music Prize

Words: Beth Adams & Jacob Corner

Selfridges is committed to creating a more sustainable future for people and planet. That’s why, for Earth Day 2020, we are joining forces with Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the University of Derby’s Nature Connectedness Research Group to engage our creative community to reflect on the importance of the natural world.

Together, we're hosting a music competition that asks 16 to 29 year olds to ‘Tune Into Nature’ for the chance to win a £1,000 grant. Launched as part of our ‘Creativity Is Not Cancelled’ campaign, in which we’re championing the power of creativity to bring us closer, this prize is designed to support young musicians who have been affected by the current lockdown as well as inspire us all to connect with our planet.

The theme emerged during a conversation with the Nature Connectedness Research Group and the fact that references to nature in contemporary music have been on a steady decline since the 1950s. But why does this matter? Well, studies have shown that being connected with nature helps support both the wellbeing of both people and planet, because people who are tuned into nature are more likely to care for it and each other.

 

We need – now more than ever – a new, more connected relationship with nature and music that can help remind people that nature is our story.

- Professor Miles Richardson, Professor of Human Factors and Nature Connectedness from the University of Derby

Right now might seem like a strange time to do anything focused on nature, but, given that we’re all stuck inside with our exposure to the outside world distinctly limited to one trip a day, we can’t think of a moment when just the idea of ‘outside’ has felt more important – even a trip to the shops has been infused with joy, let alone walking around a park. It’s our hope that this prize will allow us all to feel closer to nature when our access to it has never been more restricted.

How do I enter?

If you are a musician aged 16 to 29 years old, flex your musical muscles by writing a track that celebrates nature and enter it via ysp.org.uk/tune-into-nature-music-prize. The track should be no longer than six minutes and be submitted in MP3 format.

The winning entry will be selected by judges from Selfridges, The University of Derby, YSP, the musician Sam Lee and Tileyard London – Europe’s largest community of independent artists and businesses. Tileyard London is also offering a professional remix with award-winning songwriter and producer Martyn Ware.

The deadline for submission is 31 July 2020, so get cracking!

Enter the competition

Tune in, in style

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Yorkshire Sculpture Park highlights


Since 2018, we have partnered with Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) and its Head of Curatorial Programme, Helen Pheby, on an ongoing series of curated collaborations – including The Art Block in our Accessories Hall at Selfridges London (see below for more details).

To celebrate World Earth Day, and the launch of our exciting ‘Tuned into Nature’ prize, Helen has selected a few of her highlights from Yorkshire Sculpture Park for us to enjoy online. Each of the works reminds us to connect with nature and, hopefully, inspire your songwriting.

Gavin Turk, Oeuvre (Verdigris) 2018, bronze

Courtesy of Gavin Turk studio and Ben Brown Fine Arts
 

Gavin Turk rose to prominence in the early 1990s as part of the Young British Artists movement. He has created over 600 artworks referencing eggs, which have a metaphorical role as a symbol of life and creation, originality and mortality. Oeuvre (Verdigris) is bronze with duck-egg like markings and is part of a series based on different birds’ eggs, whose titles play on the similarity between the word for an artist’s lifework – ‘Oeuvre’ – and the French for egg – ‘oeuf’. In the natural landscape setting at YSP, next to a lake, the sculpture seems realistic and familiar, while also being comic and surreal due to its size.

Niki de Saint Phalle Buddha 2000, mixed media

Courtesy of Omer Tiroche Gallery
 

Inspired by a visit to Park Güell, by Antoni Gaudí, in Barcelona, Niki de Saint Phalle made bright and engaging sculptures for people to enjoy in a natural setting (Buddha is a firm favourite with YSP visitors). Saint Phalle believed that art and an appreciation for the natural world are what sustained her mental health after a period of crisis in her twenties. We’re planning to host a Saint Phalle exhibition, called The Joy of Living, in collaboration with Omer Tiroche Gallery, which will share the artist’s contagious enthusiasm for nature.

Barbara Hepworth The Family of Man 1970, bronze

Courtesy of the Hepworth Estate


Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield, where YSP is situated, and became one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. She was keen for her work to be experienced in an open air and natural setting, writing that she “kept on thinking of large works in a landscape: this has always been a dream in my mind”. The Family of Man is Hepworth’s last major work and is not only a personal family tree, but a universal one, leading up to the Ultimate Form or Ancestor. Situated among trees at YSP, the figures remind us that we, too, are part of nature.

Ai Weiwei Iron Tree 2013, cast iron

Private collection


Ai Weiwei is a highly respected and influential artist and activist, with a multidisciplinary practice that includes sculpture, architecture, writing and music. Iron Tree continues on loan following the artist’s 2014 exhibition and is part of a tree series inspired by the wood sold by street vendors in Jingdezhen, southern China. The sculpture comprises 97 cast-iron elements, interlocked using an exaggerated version of a classic Chinese method of joining. It expresses the artist’s interest in the importance of the individual, without which the whole would not exist, and is beautifully suited to the contemplative context of YSP’s chapel courtyard.

David Nash Black Mound 2013, charred oak and coal

YSP collection
 

David Nash is recognised worldwide for an artistic practice dedicated primarily to working with trees and wood. Nash undertook a residency at YSP from 1981-82 and created site-specific installations – some were planted and continue grow; others are ‘going’ and will disintegrate back into the earth. Nash considers his artistic intervention in the life cycle of his material to be temporary, although some works will last for many decades, they will ultimately decompose and contribute to new life such as Black Mound, which is beautifully positioned next to one of the lakes at YSP.

All associated photographs Jonty Wilde unless otherwise stated. Artworks © The artists.

Forest-friendly finds

Our Forest Friendly edit helps you shop products that use materials derived from sustainably managed forests or that use palm oil alternatives.

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Our ongoing partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Every six months we display a new work at The Art Block in our Accessories Hall at Selfridges London – from new commissions, to pieces borrowed from the Yorkshire Sculpture Parks’s collection. This series of collaborations is curated by Helen Pheby, Head of Curatorial Programme at YSP.

While our stores are temporarily closed, you can discover the story behind the current piece by Marco Miehling (pictured) and previous works by clicking below.

Discover the Art Block