Writer, philosopher and artist Wallace Heim is collaborating with the Future Machine, Rachel Jacobs and people living along the Cumbrian watersheds, leading to a meeting by the waters.
When We Met By The Water
September/October 2024
We met again in Backbarrow with a small group of 6 people who had been invited to experience dusk and dawn with prompts written by Wallace. We ate and walked down to the river and spoke to the future. A small display about the project was installed in Windermere Library and on Tuesday 1st October we met outside the library with Future Machine, walking down to Millerground, the jetties on Lake Windermere. There we met wild swimmers, tourists and locals enjoying the sunset, who spoke to the future.
When We Met By The Water
October 2023
Future Machine travelled back to The Lakes School on the shores of Lake Windermere, meeting the same students, who are now doing their A-Levels. We walked to Troutbeck and got as close to the river as we could, sketching and spending time with the water. The students spoke to the future.
When We Met By The Water
October 2022
Future Machine travelled to The Lakes School on the shores of Lake Windermere, meeting students from the school. We met by a dry stone wall at the edge of the playground, next to a stream that flows down to the lake and the students witnessed the moment, spoke to the future, listened to the sounds of the weather and messages from the past.
When We Met By The River
October 2021
Over the summer, we asked people to spend time on their own in a place that is significant to them along a beck, a river or a lake that flows into Windermere and then into the River Leven and out to sea. While they were in that place, we asked people to consider ideas and questions relating to the full community, to the future and to environmental changes. Prompts came from writings prepared by Wallace, inviting each person to imagine future possibilities in their own way.
We got together in early October, to exchange experiences, hold a conversation, and share a meal. The Future Machine was in attendance then, as witness and as a way to speak to the future.
A Retreat By The River
2020
Since the Covid-19 lockdown Wallace Heim and Rachel Jacobs have been recording their experiences of being in lockdown by the River Leven in Cumbria and on the River Lea in London.