Nature Not as Scenery But as Artistic Collaborator (EXCLUSIVE)
How do you collaborate with nature? That question led creative director Ollie Ranger to create OpenAREA, a platform where artists, architects, and performers create with and for the great outdoors instead of galleries and museums.
Each OpenAREA project unfolds in public green spaces, where nature shapes the end result.
Stages are made of borrowed construction materials, sculptures react to their environments, and performances play out beside trees and ponds rather than screens and spotlights. The result isn’t just art displayed outdoors but art that depends on it.
The idea builds on Ranger’s earlier project, Flock Together, the birdwatching collective he co-founded in 2020 to reconnect underrepresented communities with the outdoors. What began as small walks through London parks has grown into a global network that extends to Tokyo, Toronto, and beyond, with birdwatching merely the foundation for an inclusive likeminded community.
OpenAREA extends that mission. It gives artists and audiences the same chance Flock Together gave its early walkers: to see nature not as backdrop but as collaborator.
In conversation with Highsnobiety, Ranger discussed the project’s evolution, its recent event in a little-known Central London green space, and how more thoughtful dialogue can be born of nature itself.
In what ways does OpenAREA evolve the concept of Flock Together?
Flock Together proved the power of reframing one simple act, birdwatching, through a creative lens. OpenAREA scales that idea across sculpture, architecture, sound, taste, and performance. It’s broader access points and deeper collaboration. Where Flock Together was about participation and visibility, OpenAREA is about experimentation.
Rewilding is a big cultural conversation at the moment. Why are we drawn back to nature, and how does OpenAREA play into that?
We’re more disconnected than ever, from each other and from nature. The systems gatekeeping outdoor experience are changing. With more access to information, people are questioning those systems. Rewilding offers small, imaginative steps rather than doom and gloom. OpenAREA invites that re-imagination.
You recently did an event at Camley Street Nature Park in central London. How did the location shape that program?
I deliberately chose an urban green space. Nature shouldn’t feel distant. Camley Street is tucked in King’s Cross, yet many Londoners didn’t know it existed until OpenAREA. Using such a site made the conversation immediate: creativity in your own backyard, local green space as cultural venue.
What's Salomon role in OpenAREA?
Salomon came in as a creative partner, not just an outdoor-brand sponsor. It embraced the idea of nature as a creative space. Because of its openness, we invited artists who don’t normally work with outdoor brands. That helped blur boundaries between culture and ecology.
You often say nature is a “cultural canvas” rather than a backdrop. How does that philosophy play into OpenAREA?
I set out to treat nature as an active collaborator. Every creative and spatial decision is about dialogue between art, people, and the environment. For example, the Viewfinder stage [at our recent event], was built from reclaimed site materials and assembled without adhesives, framing fragments of the landscape. And Elliot Fox’s kinetic sculpture used environmental data and human movement to mirror the relationship between people and weather. These works reimagined nature not as scenery but as a co-author.
What change or lasting effect are you hoping comes of OpenAREA?
I hope two things happen. First, that people see local green spaces as cultural destinations, not just for escape. Second, I want artists and creatives to feel their voice matters in ecology conversations.
What’s next for OpenAREA?
We’re already working on the next stages. Nothing will repeat exactly. Ultimately, I’d love the site to become a fusion: part nature reserve, part cultural center. A place where nature and creativity have equal say.
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