Resonance Field

As part of the 2025 commission, artist Germaine Kruip (NL) is developing an ongoing new work titled Resonance Field, which transforms a traditional pastoral element into a continuous sound sculpture. In this work Germaine Kruip collaborates with sheep on continuous sound sculpture.

Over the summer of 2025, we patiently waited for the arrival of a leisurely grazing flock of sheep at Welna, an event that unexpectedly trailed into October. On a rainy Saturday we were pleased to present the first phase of Dutch artist Germaine Kruip’s new work, Resonance Field, which featured Welna’s herd of sheep, wearing harmonically tuned bells that will create an ever-evolving soundscape as the animals move through the landscape.

Nearly a year ago, while visiting Thinking Forest, Dutch artist Germaine Kruip caught sight of the sheep near our meeting spot. Since childhood, she has held a deep appreciation for these pastoral creatures and the gentle, rhythmic sounds of their bells. That moment inspired the idea for Resonance Field, a work composed of custom-cast bells that would transform the herd into a living soundscape.

For more than twenty years, Dutch artist Germaine Kruip (born 1970 in Castricum, NL) has cultivated a body of work that explores the intersections of time, space, and perception. Operating at the crossroads of visual art, performance, and architecture, her practice takes shape through installations, sculptural forms, and live interventions. Kruip’s work frequently engages with ephemeral phenomena, such as shifting light and the flow of time, framing these intangible elements within a scenographic context. She explores the ritualistic nature of repetition in art, using minimal gestures to subtly shift how we perceive our surroundings.

Since 2017, Kruip has been making brass sculptures that also double as percussion instruments. With the development of Resonance Field, Thinking Forest is happy to present Germaine's first interspecies collaboration, a continuous sound sculpture that transforms a traditional pastoral element, steel and brass pasture bells, into a living musical composition carrying everlasting echoes through the landscape.

Tuned to create a unique harmony, the bells are worn by a moving herd, allowing natural motion to shape the sound. While the tuning provides a foundational structure, the randomness of the animals' movements ensures that the composition is ever-changing. Each moment offers a distinct, unrepeatable auditory experience, making the piece a continuously evolving harmony between nature and sound.

Bells have long been functionally integral to herding, but their use varies across traditions. The more contained German 'tending style' relies heavily on bells to keep a herd compact, as opposed to the loose English 'gathering style'. Across traditions shepherds commonly identify the natural leaders of a flock and fit those sheep with larger bells that serve as guiding auditory markers for the flock followers.

Shepherds have used bells to herd sheep since Neolithic times. Over the centuries, these utilitarian tools have come to carry deep aesthetic and symbolic value. In Europe, especially in Alpine regions, bells serve as emblems of status, ritual, and even protection. Bell-adorned sheep were often awarded distinguished status; they were named, honoured, and kept for many seasons. Bells were also thought to ward off evil or deter predators, and their use followed seasonal and social rhythms. In times of mourning or illness, the bells were muffled with grass or removed altogether, a quiet gesture of respect and care within the pastoral world.

The rich history of bells reminds us of the cultural significance and artistry of a simple auditory tool, a reminder that bell herding isn’t about forceful control, but about watching closely, listening carefully, and working with the natural rhythms of animals and the land.

As we waited for the arrival of Welna’s herd of sheep, we reflected on the land that they traveled. Land treaded by sheep experiences an incredible biodiversity boost. Thanks to the preferential grazing habits of sheep, fast growing plant species, such as the bochtige smele (wavy hair-grass), are suppressed, making way for more delicate, slower-growing plants, like wild thyme, tormentil, and harebell, which support pollinators like butterflies and solitary bees.

Without the sheep’s grazing, dominant plants would soon overrun the heathland, transforming it into forest and causing the decline of many specialist species, including the common lizard (zandhagedis) and heath bee (hei-zandbij), which depend on sun-warmed bare ground. As the sheep graze, their hooves break up the soil, creating open patches and trampled zones that offer ideal conditions for seed germination and for insects such as sand wasps and digging beetles. These small-scale disturbances mimic natural processes like wild herbivore movement or fire, helping to maintain the dynamic, species-rich character of the heathland.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Arie Huisman, the Welna shepherd, and De Groene Ketel for their excellent catering. Follow along for more news about the second iteration of this project. Made possible with support of Mondriaan Fonds , Stichting Stokroos , Sub3 Art Fund, and Stichting De Versterking.