From the Eden3 research website (eden3.net), first published 2013; archived here in 2026. Part of Eden 3: Plein Air.
In 2006 Tim Collins and Reiko Goto emigrated to the UK to work within academia. They initiated Plein Air in (2008) with funding from universities. They moved to Scotland in 2010 where Goto would finish her PhD, Collins would support the development of work for an exhibition at Peacock Gallery in Aberdeen. Concurrently they were involved in exhibitions in Taiwan, New York and Pittsburgh; they would also publish one report and seven articles a new website. They were invited to seminars and in Asia, Ireland, the UK and the US. Residencies included the Headlands Center for the Arts in California (2008); Collins was invited to the Institute for the Advanced Humanities, University of Edinburgh (IASH) (2010). Collaborators included plant physiologists, hardware and software experts, musicians and philosophers.
In 2012 they left academia and the studio in Glasgow was established. In 2013 they received funding from Creative Scotland, the Landscape Research Group and the Forestry Commission enabled eighteen months of work on the topic of the Black Wood of Rannoch. Funding from Creative Carbon Scotland supported the development of work for CO2 Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Art Festival. 2014-15 they had exhibitions at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery, the Tent Gallery (twice) and Summerhall Edinburgh (for the science festival), and an exhibition in Cologne Germany. They published one book and sixteen articles during this time. They were invited to interdisciplinary seminars and conferences in Australia Italy, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and the UK. Goto accepted fellowship at IASH (2012). Current collaborators include a social scientist and hardware and software experts.
Prior to living in the UK, Tim Collins and Reiko Goto gained international recognition for work in the Studio for Creative Inquiry, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. In San Francisco they were recognized for early work with exhibitions, fellowships, residencies and major commissions.
All of this work requires collaboration with experts in many fields. Our longest collaborator is Noel Hefele an artist and philosopher with technical skills in social media. Over the past two years we have worked closely with Chris Malcolm who is an amazing programmer able to innovate and improvise with code, ‘jamming” his way to solutions with us to terrific effect. We have also been in extensive dialogue and collaboration with David Edwards a social scientist at Forest Research on a range of publications. We also work with Anne Benson as we respond to the Black Wood. Recent translations into Scottish Gaelic were done with the help of Beathag Mhoireasdan. Video editing with the support of artist Kate V Robertson.
During the early development stages of this effort we worked with Michael Baldock, Dr. Carola Boehm, Dr. Matthew Dalgleish, Prof Anne Douglas, Dr Pauline Phemister and Prof Trevor Hocking.
Tim Collins, PhD
Tim Collins is an artist interested in the relationships between art, people, environment and planning. He has worked with scientists, planners and attorneys as he experiments with ideas of creative democratic discourse and freedom/emancipation in relationship to people, places and things – through art practice.
Collins’ research is in the areas of art and aesthetics; the focal point is the everyday as understood in the context of environmental change. The fundamental question underpinning the work is how does (how can) art reframe nature/culture perception and value?;
Reiko Goto, PhD
Reiko Goto was born and raised in Tokyo Japan. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Tokyo Womens College of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degree from San Francisco Art Institute. Her subjects of inquiry are living things and natural environments pursued within a context of inter-species empathy.
Professor Trevor Hocking
Trevor’s first degree was in Agricultural Science at the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD in Plant Physiology at Glasgow University, working on the mode of action of the plant hormone abscisic acid. On joining the University of Wolverhampton, his subject interests broadened to include many aspects of plant and crop science, including agricultural biotechnology. His fundamental research is on the responses of plants to environmental change and the improvement of productivity in crop plants.
Noel Hefele
Noel recently completed his MA in Arts and Ecology at Dartington College of Arts, Devon England. He received his BFA in painting from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is presently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His ongoing research focuses on landscape, society and the idea of engaged vision. Noel has been working with Collins and Goto since 2000.