Baltic Square Entanglements

I am the stone

    I am sturdy and solid

    in this place of wind

waving through everyone and everything

from buildings to forgotten beer cans

I am a forgotten beer can

    somebody enjoyed drinking me

    brought me all the way from a store to here

    and then forgot me

    I wait here patiently for the city cleaners

    to pick me up

    or maybe they forgot

    and I’ll be over time overgrown

    over time by the moss

I am a moss

    I am trying to stay close to the river

    my home is in concrete

    it’s so dry

    I am looking forward to the rain

    I need a touch

    of water droplet

I am a water droplet

    flowing through the river tyne

    on my journey to the sea

    I pass humans enjoying their lunches

    feed the nearby plants

    and grow when it rains from above

    I will see you soon

    as I flow with the wind

I am the wind

    I am the gentle noise

    or the whispers of the wind

    moving through the gentle texture of the moss

    and grass

    travelling all over the environment

    giving and mixing up all the air

    irrespective of all the beings around me

I am the water

    I keep moving constantly

    I think I have travelled across the globe

    I am calm right now

    but I can get extreme sometimes

    I give a peace of mind to the people

    and people enjoy me when it’s warm outside

    wind plays an important role in my mobility

I am the wind

    a gentle touch, a soothing kin

    I carry scents of bloom and spring

    a whisper to your ears

    and peace to your mind

    I play around the bundle of clouds

I am a cloud

    sometimes white

sometimes black against the sun

and from above, I protect the Earth

my Mom

and all children

especially my sister, forget me not

I am forget-me-not

    there are tons of monsters

    staring at me

    and step on me

    but I am sure I am going to grow through that

    and have wonderful blue flowers

    so as my neighbour, weed

I am a weed

    squeezing through the gaps

between the pavers

I occupy the space

creating a green thread across the vast hardscape

together I am neighbours with the creatures

that share my home

the grass between the pavers

I am the grass

    growing between the paving

    I am resilient

to the human’s development

    and I also provide shelter

    to the little ant

I am the little ant

    I like that small hole in the wethered cement

    by the retaining wall

    I wish that I had friends

    -

    I am scared of the fish guys in the river

I am the river

    I am the free in the nature

    I can help others to take them far away

    the water in river can help the grass grow

I am the grass

    between the gaps of the pavements

    and I live in this place

    and the spider stays with me

I am a spider

    I spin a web on the handrail

    I can live for several times

without foods

    my neighbour is moss

I am a moss

    who grows by the river

    and I don’t get any sun

    but that’s good

    because I don’t like the sun

    I grew up under a stone

I am the stone

    I am everywhere here, taking many shapes

    I am not sure where I come from

    as I was mined and processed and transported and constructed

    yet here I am

    with all who I arrive here

    like a longe pigeon’s feather

I am a pigeon’s feather

    I would prefer to cherished

    while resting on a lawn

    but I have no idea why she came all the way from shieldfield

    and shedded me near this steel bridge

I am the bridge

    I am the link between two lands

    I am the view of the sea

    I am the strength under the footpath

I am the better view and hear of a seagull

I am a seagull

    I flash in white

    under the sun & at cold

    some days I’m quirky

    and steal childrens’ ice creams

    and I rave along the wind

I am wind

    I move unseen

    softly brushing your body

    whether calm or strong

    I am carrying the whispers of the world

    and I am carrying the sorrows of the heart shape

    with eyes and legs to get him a new life

I am a heart shape with eyes and legs

    I carry spirits and city culture

    when the night comes

    I hear arugula whispering in the wind

I am an arugula

    living between a tiny gap of a stone footpath…

    I have some lovely neighbours

    who is living with me too

    I look up and see the cloud

I am the cloud

    I am more welcomed in the middle east than in europe

    I am the best friend of the wind

    we always go and come together

    I am a great artist

    I draw thousands of shapes in the sky

    I am surprising

    as a suitcase full of presents

I am a suitcase

    and I follow an elegant lady with heavy steps

    to the baltic art gallery in newcastle

    I enjoy my journey

    when along the river I saw the brown trout

    swimming in the tyne river happily

I am a brown trout

    traveling from west

    river eden, carlisle

    it’s been a long way

    from west to newcastle

    but that is my choice

    I can see beautiful sky

    through water surface every day

I am the sky

    ever changing and watching over the world

    I am shifting with every passing moment

    I am the stormy grey

    the soft pink

    and the deep blue of a clear afternoon

    I am sun and rain

    my colours and my moods

    changing with my friend, wind

I am the wind

    playful soul, around everywhere

    you can sense me

    I can comfort you from above

    on the ground

    touch me and I am rough

    and I am the stone

I am the stone

    I carry you with my firm smoothness

    all of you with legs

    all of you who don’t fly or swim

    I carry the air

    who carries the seagull

I am seagull

    after a long long day I’m flying back home now

    today was so cold

    it must be great to stay at the nest  

    which is not that far

    just next to the river tyne

    it won’t take a long time to fly back

    because the wind helps me to go far and high

I am the wind

    I can make any material to giggle

    and give a beautiful sound

    that’s how I make the zip of the lady’s jacket

    and the dog collar laugh when I make them giggle

    cling cling cling

    between the boy ran

    an throw a stone in the water

    the tyne river water

I am water

    I flow silently or rapidly

    it’s your choice to float on me

    or drown inside me

    my presence is felt

    will make you cold or warm

    to feel me

    see about the clouds

I am the clouds

    full and dark in the sky

    I am watching and covering you below

    I am floating and moving with the wind

    I am fighting and pierced by the sun

    I am the clouds, never always with you

    I am watching you, the sticker

I am a sticker

    stuck on a steel dust-bin

    I am hearing the rumbling of the bridge behind me

    and I move along with the sounds

    people around come to me and walk away

    their pet dogs notice me, and I think they’re happy

    I am happy for them

    but it’s really loud and windy

I am the wind

    I am cheering around

brushing your hair, playing with your coat

I am free to go anywhere

I am sometimes helping you to walk

sometimes I try to convince you to walk another way

I am bringing fresh air for all more-than-human beings

I am carrying all sounds you need for communication

I am gently leading you through the space, seagull

I am a seagull

    I’m going to fly with the power of the wind

    to the riverside

    to find something to eat

    finally I get some fries and fish

    near the food truck’s wheel

I am a wheel

    I move but I don’t know who controls me

    I go up and down, forward and backward

    sometimes my journey is smooth

sometimes rough

sometimes I wish I was as free as a feather

I am a feather

    going down the river

    I came away from a seagull

    because I wanted to ride the wind

I am wind

    I can fly through everything

    including buildings or forests

    I leave my voice for everything else

    because I want to blow the grass

I am a little grass

    let the wind and rain

    glows with moss

I am a moss

    I grow up on the ground

    I swing with the wind

I am the wind

    kissing the surface of the river

    hugging everyone passing by

    feeling every plants’ energy

    I still do the same thing

    after walking hundreds of mile stones

I am the stone

    I am sturdy and solid

    in this place of wind

waving through everyone and everything

Authors

A collaborative place-based story of Worlding with Urban Wildscapes, transcribed here as crafted and captured in place at Baltic Square in Gateshead, on Friday 04 October 2024, between 14:00 and 17:00 BST, by Lotte Dijkstra, Margot Overvoorde, Scott Matthews, students of the Master of Landscape Architecture Year 2 and students of the Master Advanced Planning and Landscape Management at Newcastle University, and the more-than-human beings and vibrant matterings present.

Image adapted from Margot Overvoorde.

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What Baltic Square tells us

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I am the wind

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I am the stone

• What Baltic Square tells us • I am the wind • I am the stone

Upon closer inspection, a stone-clad logistical space may appear much less monolithic than you would expect. How many beings make this space their home? How do they shape, create and inform this place?

We inhabit a world crafted, created and constructed by many authors, creators, inhabitants and users. Most of them are not human. Our more-than-human kin co-creates the places we live in, and the spaces we construct as (landscape) architects, urbanists, planners and designers. Exploring their narrative points of view helps us move beyond simplistic narratives and linear timelines, surpassing culture-nature dualisms and uncovering encoded features and patterns in our environment. Through narrative techniques, these shifts in perspective can be captured into collaborative more-than-human understandings of place, which contribute to more inclusive, intersectional and interscalar landscape practices.

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