| "From my very first visit to the Westway I knew there was something important in the physical form of this site – the way it produces and affects the light, darkness and shadows whilst journeys, lives and time run a very different course through it." |
| Acklam Road is a pedestrianized area beneath the Westway between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park. Three tree plots stand here two of which hold trees, the third lies empty. Within this area people congregate to socialise, drink and take drugs. They travel to this site where they form a community that is often ignored and passed or disregarded by those who do not know them. I could begin to see parallels between these people and my work with trees, issues concerning anonimity, classification and identification were continuing to emerge. To explore these ideas further I used a series of interventions each of increasing magnitude and accuracy. |
 
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| In the first stage in this phase of the project I simply began by placing signs onto the two trees in this site to firstly explore how we notice or look at the tree and secondly asking personfying questions about the trees i.e Name? , Age? , Origin? This is the sort of identification information that is required on forms but that still allows a person to remain anonymous. |
 
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This work allowed me to begin building relationships with some of the people who travel to this site and I started to work on some profiles of those who were interested in talking to me about what I was doing. This was represented in a series of photographs which were taken in the empty plot. People replaced the missing tree. I too had a profile, I was now coming to the site perhaps not for the same reasons as my interviewees but my own journey and place within this community was forming.
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| In the next stage I replaced where people normally sat with pots containing a variety of tree branches. In a role reversal the trees now replaced people accentuating further ideas of personification and reinforcing the much explored connections between man and tree. |
  
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| Finally the empty plot was given a "to let" sign which meant only one thing. It was now ready to become a home for the right tenant. After much deliberation it was decided that 'Sorbus Joseph Rock' would find this place ideal but that until he could move in some more preparation of the site would be necessary. So whilst this was happening he would aquaint himself with some of the habits of his new neighbours. It is here that a series of photographs portray the tree in and around Labroke grove. His passport photo revealing his own identity. His own journey documented. |
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| This leads us to the next phase of the project where all of this work plays a vital role in the final section of this project. |
