Collins & Goto Studio

Environmental Art, Deep Mapping & Ecological Instruments

Horse | Tree | Earth

Art · Heritage · Biodiversity. Performance, tree planting and an exhibition by Reiko Goto Collins and Collins + Goto Studio, Glasgow, 2026

Reiko Goto Collins smiling beside a four-wheeled carriage with wooden-spoked wheels, loaded with potted young trees
Reiko Goto Collins with the carriage and some of the trees, 2026.

Year2026

PerformanceSunday 18 October and Sunday 15 November

ExhibitionMackintosh Queen’s Cross, 25 November – 18 December

WhereGlasgow: the Whisky Bond to Hamiltonhill Claypits

On this page

The project

Horse | Tree | Earth brings together performance, tree planting and an exhibition. At its heart is Darkness, a horse whom artist Reiko Goto Collins plans to bring to Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve (HCLNR) to help plant native trees.

Silhouette of a horse led by a figure, pulling a cart that carries a large tree, its roots and branches spread behind

Horse

With support from Easterton Farm Park, Darkness, Tim and Reiko began learning to work together through carting. Lee Valentine, a carriage-driving instructor, guided them step by step in helping Darkness become comfortable pulling a cart. Their journey progressed from the farm’s indoor and outdoor arenas to the surrounding countryside, Mugdock Park and, finally, the Claypits.

Performance and tree planting

There are two performances, on Sunday 18 October and Sunday 15 November 2026, one each month. Darkness will carry native trees by cart between the Whisky Bond, the canal, Applecross and HCLNR. At the reserve, friends, collaborators and community members will help plant the trees. HCLNR volunteers and board members have supported site preparation, and Scottish Canals granted permission for the planting.

The trees, including pine, rowan, oak, ash, hawthorn, birch, hazel and aspen, come from the gardens of Glasgow Women’s Library and Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS), where the artist has been collecting and caring for them. Through shared learning, movement and planting, the project explores human and animal labour, ecological care, inherited histories and the possibilities of working together towards a shared future.

  • Sunday 18 October 2026 and Sunday 15 November 2026
  • 11am – 1pm: starts at the Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow G4 9SS (the gate next to the canal)
  • Then moves into the Claypits for tree planting. Enter from the greenspace at the corner of Firhill and Garscube Street, or from Applecross way, and walk to the pond area.

Exhibition at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society

The exhibition explores the history of equine labour in Glasgow through historical images, publications and archival research. Mitchell Library introduced the artist to its collections of images, articles and books. Willy Maley, poet, writer and professor of English literature at the University of Glasgow, shared more than 400 historical images of Glasgow from 1850–1950, including images of working horses, alongside his research project Animal Study in the 17th Century. His contributions have helped shape the exhibition, connecting histories of working horses with the project’s contemporary performance and ecological concerns.

The exhibition also features documentation of the Claypits performance and tree planting, with a final video by Helena Öhman.

  • Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, Mackintosh Queen’s Cross, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow G20 7SS
  • 25 November – 18 December 2026
  • Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 11am – 4pm (last admission 3:30pm)
  • Opening: Friday 27 November, 6 – 8pm
Horse | Tree | Earth poster with the performance dates and the exhibition at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society
The poster.

In the making

A four-wheeled carriage with wooden-spoked wheels, loaded with young trees in pots, in front of a roller door
The carriage loaded with young trees.
Front view of the harness and bridle on the wooden frame, with a knitted ear bonnet
The harness from the front.
A long black horse tail hanging on a white wall
A horse tail.
Three sheets of black horse silhouettes pinned to a wall, each horse with a handwritten name
Horse silhouettes, each with its name.
A driving harness and bridle hung on a wooden sawhorse frame in the studio
Harness and bridle on a wooden frame in the studio.
Three sheets of named horse silhouettes, a hanging horse tail and the Horse | Tree | Earth graphic on a white wall, above a table with two albums and a laptop showing a horse and carriage
Prints of named horses, a horse tail, the Horse | Tree | Earth graphic, the album Anonymous Horses in the City, Glasgow, Scotland, and a film.

Support

Production support: the vintage wooden cart was refurbished at GSS with the help of its technicians. Print Clan produced the silk-screen-printed banner, and Imprint Now printed the ponchos used during the tree planting.

Horse | Tree | Earth is funded by Creative Scotland and supported by Glasgow Sculpture Studios and Clay Café. The artwork is created by Reiko Goto Collins and Collins + Goto Studio.

Reiko Goto Collins has written about working with a horse in “Horse, Empathy and Sign” (2022) and “Listening to The Web of Life” (2023); see Publications.