Beneath Clouded Hills

A More-Than-Human Approach to “Deep England”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2292-4736/40464

Abstract

I’d like to tell you a story, ‘bout how England came to be…

So begins a retelling of Des Grantz Geanz, a more-than-human origin tale of England (Birt & Helle, 2023), which recounts how thirty exiled giants were the first to appear on Albion’s shores, named so after the eldest. Here, they lived in harmony with the existing flora and fauna until the tyrant Brutus invaded and made them flee underground. The tale starts off Beneath Clouded Hills (Figure 1), an artist film by Verity Birt and myself, which forms part of a wider art and research project in which we explore the ambiguous term “Deep England” (Birt & Helle, 2023).

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Author Biography

Una Helle, Royal Holloway, University of London

Una Hamilton Helle (NO/UK) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and researcher currently undertaking a practice-based PhD in the Geography Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, with the working title Spirits of place: Thinking through subterranean subjectivities. In addition to a written thesis, the outcome of the research will conclude with a number of creative responses realised as exhibitions, sound works, and artist publications. The first instalment of this was Beneath Clouded Hills, an exhibition at Bloc Projects, Sheffield, 18 May – 17 June 2023. http://www.unahamiltonhelle.co.uk

References

Birt, V., & Helle, U. H. (2023). Beneath clouded hills [Film, sound, light and sculptural installation]. https://www.blocprojects.co.uk/exhibitions-events/2023/beneath-clouded-hills

Clarke, A. (Director), & Rudkin, D. (Writer). (1974, March 21). Penda’s fen (Series 4, Episode 16) [TV series episode]. In D. Rose (Producer), Play for Today. British Broadcasting Corporation.

Creswell Crags. (n.d.). The caves. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/explore/the-caves

Dakers, C. (2016). Forever England: The countryside at war 1914-1918 (New edition). I.B. Tauris. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755621828

Fowler, C. (2020). Green unpleasant land: Creative responses to rural Britain’s colonial connections. Peepal Tree Press Ltd.

Harle, M., & Machin, J. (Eds.). (2019). Of mud & flame: The Penda’s fen sourcebook. Strange Attractor Press.

Hutton, R. (2013). Pagan Britain. Yale University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300197716.001.0001

Matless, D. (2016). Landscape and Englishness (2nd expanded edition). Reaktion Books.

Ware, V. (2022). Return of a native: Learning from the land. Repeater Books.

Williams, R., & Hunt, T. (2016). The country and the city. Vintage.

Wright, P. (2001, August 19). Deep and true? Reflections on the cultural life of the English countryside [Radio broadcast]. The BBC Proms Lecture (Radio 3), Victoria & Albert Museum. https://www.patrickwright.net/wp-content/uploads/pwright-proms-lecture-2001.pdf

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Published

2025-02-24

How to Cite

Helle, U. (2025). Beneath Clouded Hills: A More-Than-Human Approach to “Deep England”. UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies, 22, 116–120. https://doi.org/10.25071/2292-4736/40464

Issue

Vol. 22 (2025): Below

Section

Conference Transcripts

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Una Helle

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