"Why Was the Sea Serpent There?"

In the summer of 2025, I travelled to Île de Batz, a small island off the coast of Brittany, to take part in ArtLabo, a gathering of artists, researchers, activists and makers exploring the relationships between ecology, culture and technology. The week was shaped by long conversations, seaweed foraging, ocean swims, shared meals and a collective curiosity about what it means to live and create differently.

A few weeks later, Ewen Chardronnet contacted me with an invitation. As part of the Feral Labs Network and the Creative Europe programme Rewilding Cultures, the editors of Feral Labs Node Book #3: Fa Fa Futures were looking back on a series of summer camps and experimental gatherings across Europe. Ewen felt that, as both an artist and curator who had participated in ArtLabo, I could offer a distinct perspective on the experience.

What followed became my essay, "Why Was the Sea Serpent There?", published alongside contributions from artists, researchers and cultural practitioners from across the Feral Labs network. Rather than documenting an event, the essay reflects on the unexpected encounters, stories and connections that emerge when people come together around place, ecology and imagination.

I'm grateful to Ewen and the editorial team for the invitation, and for creating a space where reflection, experimentation and cultural exchange can find a home.

Sometimes the most meaningful publications begin not in an office or a studio, but on a windswept island at the edge of the Atlantic.

- Steffan Jones-Hughes

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