Forage
The word 'forage' seems to have two, almost oppositional meanings: the Old French, to plunder or pillage, and from its earlier Germanic origins, which I am drawn to, related to fodder - evoking sustenance, the stuff we need to feed our bodies and our practice. Fodder is also straw, recalling the practice of gleaning which was done after the harvest by women and children, who were permitted to collect grains that were left on the land, golden nuggets, vital to their survival over the winter. I think of Agnes Varda's film The Gleaners and I that likens such collecting practices with her own gathering of materials, gestures, images, ideas in her filmmaking. 'Fodder' is also the bed of straw, the matter that we might nest within, to support and care for our practice.
“She went out into the hedgerows to forage for haws and sloes.”
“The new references they gathered on their research trip serve as forage for their new project.”
“The new references they gathered on their research trip serve as forage for their new project.”
Donated by Amanda Couch