Big tree

At the exhibition entitled Fragments of the landscape (18 March 2018), I present the object, which I called the Big Tree. This is an installation placed on the gallery’s wall showing the simplified silhouette of the tree. The tree crown is made of large plastic leaves arranged in the shape of an oval / circle. The tree trunk creates a bunch of foil tapes hanging freely to the floor. The ends of the tapes lie on the floor. Between the leaves a branch of the branch (tape) is arranged to complement the oval crown of the tree.

The silhouette of the tree refers to the common association with the object, which is a tree. Such silhouettes appear in children’s drawings or in biological books. Despite the variety of forms that nature offers us, the tree in the common sense – it’s a trunk, and above it a crown of branches and leaves.

I used material – waste – plastic to make the object. Because it is easily available and cheap (almost free), I could create a large scale object. The size of the tree gives me the possibility of direct communication with the viewer; a large object dominates the exhibition and it is difficult not to notice it and do not refer to it. The leaves of the trees are made of plastic with a warm, friendly, green color. Green leaves are broken by strands of intense colors – blue, yellow, orange, or white. The intense colors of the plastic material create the impression of a holiday of colors, which introduces the viewer into a positive mood. Each matter has its beauty. Matter focused in one or another structure, illuminated by light, evokes certain sensations. Even such “artificial” matter as plastic can be an artistic material that arouses positive emotions at the recipient.

Building a tree made of plastic I refer to the broader issue – the environment, its exploitation by man and the need to protect. Plastic, invented recently, recently also widely used in the world, is a boon and curse of modern civilization. It is used extensively to produce colourful packages of goods. The packaging’s life is short. After buying goods, we take them out of many layers of colored plastic. We throw the packaging. The disposal of plastic waste is a big and separate problem. Production of plastic, dyeing, placing on the surface of prints and advertisements – it’s a continuous process – production of garbage. Waste with which nature can not cope.

I would like my big, green, colourful tree to make the viewer reflect on the fact that the color and attractiveness of colors can cover the dangerous phenomenon of destroying nature.