A Marriage of Opposites: Digital Immersion at Kew Gardens
“Created in collaboration with ecologists, biologists, and researchers, the project reveals the oak not merely as a tree, but as a living nexus of connection and reciprocity.”
– Marshmallow Laser Feast
Of the Oak, Marshmallow Laser Feast, real-time video, spatial audio, web field guide, 2025. Photo Courtesy of Stella Koslowski.
Kew Gardens has long been a popular place for tourists and locals to explore and enjoy a wide range of plants as well as the birds and insects that are drawn to them. With impressive greenhouses and on-site restaurants, families can spend an entire day traversing the 330 acres of land. One of the highlights of this botanical garden are the historic trees that have been on the property for generations. In particular, the Lucombe oak tree, which was probably planted around 1770, has been an important fixture of Kew. In the 1840s, Victorian landscape designer William Nesfield succeeded in uprooting and moving the tree 20 meters to make space for the Syon Vista, which still exists today. The Lucombe oak is a cross between the turkey oak and a cork oak, and is characterized by its large branches which sprawl outwards in a spidery effect. It is heavily gnarled and has a big lump on the side which further emphasizes its age.
The Lucombe Oak. Photo Courtesy of Stella Koslowski.
What makes oak trees so fascinating in the first place is how long they have existed on Earth, let alone in Britain. They have lived through ice ages, and lived alongside all manner of creatures, some no longer with us. It is important to recognize these elders of the land, especially as the world continues to shift and change, making human intervention ever more important to their continued survival. Kew Gardens in collaboration with Marshmallow Laser Feast has found a new way to allow visitors to appreciate the age and resilience of the Lucombe oak.
Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) is an artist collective which pushes the boundaries of art by collaborating with professionals from all walks of life and areas of specialty, from scientists to brand companies. Besides exhibiting work in galleries and museums, they have also done a great deal of work in parks and nature reserves. With an emphasis on immersive experiences, MLF creates highly researched and skillfully programmed digital artwork that bends the mind and questions the definitions of art itself.
For Kew Gardens, they created a digital twin of the Lucombe oak to illustrate its internal life as the seasons pass and change. By combining their digital skills with the knowledge of Kew’s scientists and horticulturists, as well as data collected on-site, this installation endeavors to broaden visitors’ understanding of the oak as a conduit for biodiversity. Techniques such as photogrammetry (stitching together a multitude of images), LiDAR scanning (mapping the tree’s physical form with laser pulses), 24-hour live sound recordings, CT scanning of soil samples, and ground-penetrating radar (to see the oak’s network of roots), all create a vivid and exciting image of just how complex and full of energy a tree is.
Of the Oak, Marshmallow Laser Feast, real-time video, spatial audio, web field guide, 2025. Photo Courtesy of Stella Koslowski.
The video component of the piece shows the flow of energy beneath the bark and how it affects each branch and leaf down to the roots. Trees mainly store chemical energy in the form of sugars made through photosynthesis. But trees can also convert light into heat and electrical energy, all of which flows through them and allows for growth and other life processes. Particles of energy also flow around the outside of the oak, possibly representing the movement of light, air, pollen, or insects. Not only does it bring an amount of grandness and importance to the tree, but it also emphasizes the importance of old trees to the wider ecosystems of not only Kew, but all over the world. Trees are connected deeper than many may realize, and this piece strives to show how “the oak shelters thousands of species within its embrace, from the smallest fungi to winged creatures nesting among its body. Each life form moves in a shared rhythm, a mutual flourishing sustained by the oak’s enduring presence,” according to MLF.
Of the Oak, Marshmallow Laser Feast, real-time video, spatial audio, web field guide, 2025. Photo Courtesy of Stella Koslowski.
The giant screen does not feel out of place—though it is a manmade structure intersecting with the natural. Although it is situated in the middle of the vista, people are still drawn to it by its seamless position alongside the real trees. From certain angles, it appears to almost blend in with the surrounding foliage, and the subtle looping video moves slowly so as not to jar the senses.
The just-perceptible sounds that emit from the installation are not distracting to the display, nor to the natural sounds of birds and insects in the grove. They offer a source of meditation and a way to lose oneself in the video. The music undulates with the movement in the video and has a magnetic effect on all who sit to watch.
As a further component to this captivating installation, Kew offers guided meditations via the Of the Oak online field guide which can be located on the sign by the work. With this, visitors can further interact with the artwork by breathing in sync with the tree and root themselves in the history of this amazing and historical oak. Meditations are authored by Daisy Lafarge, Merlin Sheldrake, Ella Saltmarshe, and Laline Paul. They offer a space for contemplation with the trees and allow visitors to ground themselves in the park.
Mesmerizing and meditative, monumental and reverent, Of the Oak succeeds in capturing the attention of passersby of all ages and educates as much as it evokes wonder.
For a more extensive list of contributors, please see the list below:
An Artwork by Marshmallow Laser Feast
Ersin Han Ersin, Barnaby Steel, Robin McNicholas
Commissioned by Royal Botcanical Gardens Kew
Executive Producers: Eleanor (Nell) Whitley, Mike Jones
Producer: Roxie Oliveira
Head of Studio: Sarah Gamper Marconi
Lead Artist: Quentin Corker Marin
Lead Creative Technologist: Chris Mullany
Creative Developer: Sam Twidale
VFX Artists: Nicolas Le Dren, Lewis Saunders
Technical Lead: Miryana Ivanova
Music, Sound Design: James Bulley
Sound System Engineer: Simon Hendry
Assistant Recordist: Jake Tyler, Richard Hards
Recording Musicians: Kat Tinker, Audrey Riley, Daniel Pioro, Ian Stonehouse
Graphic Designer: Patrick Fry
Researcher, Copywriter: Eliza Collin
Marketing and Communications Lead: Erin Wolson
Technical Studio Assistant: Ieva Vaitiekunaite
Studio Administrator & Production Assistant: Alex McRobbie
Online Field Guide Design and Development: Lusion
Lidar Technician: Zachary Mollica
PR: Margaret
Contributing Authors for Meditations
Daisy Lafarge
Merlin Sheldrake
Laline Paull
Ella Saltmarshe
Meditations Voiced by Michelle Newell, Merlin Sheldrake
Scientific Advisors & Contributors
Kevin Martin (RBG, Kew)
Justin Moet (RBG, Kew)
Dr. Laura Martinez-Suz (RBG, Kew)
Lee Davies (RBG, Kew)
Peter Gasson (RBG, Kew)
Dr. Ruth Mitchell
Prof. James McDonald
Dr. Jenni Stockan
Paul Bellamy – RSPB
For Marshmallow Laser Feast
Executive Producers: Alex Rowse, Carolina Vallejo
Senior Producer: Martin Jowers
Producers: Anya Tye, Emmanuel Adanlawo
Tools & Infrastructure Engineer: Maria Astakhova
Social Media Content Manager: Selin Kir
For Installation
Documentation: Lamplight Media Ltd
LED Suppliers: Wheelhouse
Rigging Constructors: Focus Rigging and Scaffolding Ltd
Health & Safety Consultants: Event Safety Plan
Camera Case Design: Sienna Griffin-Shaw
Stella Koslowski,
En Plein Air Co-Editor, MADE IN BED