In the river of time within nature,
Civilization is but a fleeting moment.
The damp colossal stone city, slippery green boulders, sprawling colossal roots, reveling crowds, shimmering flames... He once dreamt of the glorious Ormonde.
• Chapter One: Revelation
The colossal stone city swallowed by roots, once housed towering stone structures, parting the ethereal towering forest, enclosing a hidden realm. The people there, sheltered by the jungle, could understand the howls of a hundred beasts, decipher the cryptic language of plants, converse with nature deities, and commune with the cosmos. They paid tribute to the "Sacred Vine," with the tribal chief consuming sacred vine water during the annual grand festival, beseeching the blessings of the nature deity and seeking approval for the year's sustenance. People cheered around the bonfire, with an attitude of reverence, making a pilgrimage, and remembering the chief's admonition: "This forest is delicate, it will protect itself when threatened." Under the protection of the Sacred Vine, Ormonde gained everything—advanced tools, writing, language, and art. The people of Ormonde took pride in their civilization. The young people in the city believed that Ormonde's civilization could save the barrenness beyond the forest and bring happiness to the world. They formed an expedition team, using advanced tools to clear entangled roots, opening a path leading out of the forest...
• Chapter Two: Admonition
A tremendous roar echoed from underground, countless robust roots burst forth from the earth, enveloping a colossal stone city, causing an upheaval of darkness. Ormonde was now inverted beneath the earth, its splendid civilization reduced to ashes, leaving only remnants of stones defying geometric principles, exposed on the surface. The Sacred Vine was much larger and more mysterious than people knew, extending across the entire forested land, weaving a dense network. It existed on this land for tens of thousands of years before humans appeared, showing compassion for the creatures of the forest and overseeing order.
• Chapter Three: Nirvana
The voice in the dream repeats: "This forest is delicate, it will protect itself when threatened." No one paid attention to a dream, but he believed. Following the call of the dream, he searched for the remnants deep in the forest. In the dim forest, only the moss on the broken stones outlined the possible ancient civilization traces, and sparse new shoots were emerging on the stones, weaving new channels. There must have been a civilization that people didn't know once ruled this land, as ancient and unknown as in the dream. When the enormous roots reconnect, the land's veins will revive, the ancient civilization will be awakened, and glory will once again descend upon this land. The universe possesses an unimaginably grand cycle, and what lies dormant forever may not be extinction...
CLE Exhibition Review
Lasting for a month, UPPERVOID created a colossal city-state ruin named "Ohrmonde" at the 2023 CLE China (Hangzhou) Outdoor Camping Lifestyle Exhibition. Within the stones and plants, it deciphered the murmurs of a lost civilization and established a new dialogue with nature.
NATURE
The theme of this exhibition is "Ohrmonde Whispers," following the "Somvia Revelation" presented by UPPERVOID at the ISPO exhibition. Centered around nature worship, we use natural elements such as plants and stones to present a vanished civilization relic, "Ohrmonde," allowing viewers to temporarily transcend their daily lives and journey to an ancient city that revered nature. Here, they can rediscover a profound connection with nature and reevaluate the relationship between modern civilization and primal nature.
Hand-drawn tribal masks, totem flags, and symbolic patterns create a "space of otherness" within the exhibition hall, detaching from modern civilization. The floor is covered with sand, stones, and fallen leaves, resembling a wild rainforest. Irregularly stacked stones and interwoven plants symbolize the last faith of the lost civilization.
All on-site construction materials are sourced from nature. Stones are presented in various forms, defining a functional gathering area where viewers can sit around a bonfire, experience natural spirituality, and even amidst the bustling crowd, find a moment of peace while inhaling the fresh scent of plants.
RECYCLING
Like in real nature, materials are locally sourced, minimizing the impact of human activity on nature. We use plants, stones, and wood to imbue the entire space with the rhythms of nature.
We fashion primitive hangers and flags from recycled wood, securing them with eco-friendly buckles and ropes for easy restoration and reuse after the event. These pieces of wood have accompanied us to many cities and will bear witness to even more stories in the future.
The fallen leaves on the ground are real leaves collected locally, an integral part of the natural cycle. In urban civilization, fallen leaves are often deemed useless and swiftly cleared away. We recover fallen leaves from local flower markets, allowing them to return to nature's rhythm within "Ohrmonde."
These materials originate from nature and ultimately return to nature, causing no burden or pollution to the environment. They do not produce industrial waste or chemical pollution.
COLLIDE
The forest has an extraordinary generosity. In the exchange of nature, there is an indispensable wisdom: to find consensus in tranquility, to seek balance. Lively civilizations operate in the same way.
Every visitor to "Ohrmonde" can leave their mark on these stones. In the end, Prehistoric Mayan patterns, pictograms, simple geometric shapes, and casually drawn graffiti collectively form the "Ohrmonde Whispers."
These patterns are like a language traveling through the river of time, meeting in the same time and space. Every form of writing in human history is related to natural materials. On these stones, ancient and modern, civilization and nature collide and merge.
Hand-drawn flag patterns and symbols extracted from UPPERVOID's fabric textures also achieve another collision of technology and primitiveness.
COMMUNICATE
The world changes so rapidly, and no school in the world can guarantee that the knowledge taught to a child will still be useful twenty years later. However, the migration of reindeer, the growth of plants, and the ripening of fruits are exceptions. Humans in modern civilization may no longer be able to comprehend the language of nature. We need a medium to reestablish communication with nature and gain more enduring stability.
UPPERVOID hopes to use new outdoor functional clothing as a bridge to communicate with nature, crossing the boundaries between civilization and the primitive. Feel the emerging vitality in the wilderness, equally sense the land beneath your feet along with all living beings, and listen to their voices.
More and more people yearn to venture outdoors, to rediscover instinctual experiences in nature, and to feel the healing and tranquility that nature brings. In this secluded "Ohrmonde," people gather around the stone bonfire, pondering the whispers of Ohrmonde written in these shared symbols, and reevaluating the relationship between humans and nature.
Once,
This land itself was their church,
Green mountains and blue waters were their temples,
Animals, plants, and birds were their religious and cultural heritage.
