HOW ARE TREES USED IN 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY ART

Chae Won Song (WIM)

Trees have been included in art as far as human history goes back, whether it is a simple practice sketch or a deeply symbolic aspect of a piece. In modern times, new techniques and tools allow new ways for artists to explore strange ideas and ways of thinking. Enabling them to use trees in a new light. Roots, trunks, branches, or the entire tree can be simplified into shapes or kept detailed depending on what atmosphere the artist aspires to incorporate in their work, using the shapes of trees as a base for experimentation. Martin Boyce’s “Our Love is Like the Flowers…” imitates a park with trees in a minimalistic style made of glowing fluorescent tubes, creating an other-worldly feeling to them but also including a sense of loneliness or isolation due to the lack of leaves or additional branches.

Our Love is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours (2002) – Martin Boyce

Contrasting to that, Tacita Dean’s “Majesty” is of a high-resolution photo of one of the oldest and largest oak trees in England that includes all the small details of the branches, trunk grooves and roots. This makes the tree seem grandiose and overwhelming in a sense, the absence of leaves giving it a haunting and dead look. Boyce and Dean focus on and use different features of a tree, Boyce condensing down the shapes of a park tree while Dean attempts to capture all the details of an ancient one, producing distinct pieces of work. Majesty (2006) – Tacita Dean There are many artists that use wood for sculptures as it is easier to use compared to metal and stone due to it being a softer medium. However, there are many instances where the tree itself is transformed through painting, carvings, or many other methods. Phillipa Lawrence’s “Bound V-57” has an ancient tree wrapped with bright felt, without chopping it down, to establish a connection between herself and the countryside.

Bound V-57 – Phillipa Lawrence On the other hand, “The Hidden Life Within” by Giuseppe Penone is a tree trunk that has been hollowed out to showcase the original sapling underneath by using the tree’s rings, exposing a vulnerable side to the large tree trunk. Penone’s process carves into the trunk while Lawrence preserves the tree and its shape by wrapping it, showing the familiar and unusual ways trees can be used.

The Hidden Life Within (2013) – Giuseppe Penone The symbolism behind trees has been used many times to convey messages and meaning into art. In religious renaissance artwork different trees were used as visual language such as the oak trees representing Jesus while Chinese artworks had the pine tree represent ideas from Confucianism. Contemporary art is not excluded from this as artists use context as easy access information allows people to understand what the work’s message could be. Ai Weiwei’s sculpture “Tree” uses dry branches and roots that he has collected around southern China and mimics the form of a tree, commenting on the environmental damage and cultural erasure due to many areas turning urban in China.

Tree (2010) – Ai Weiwei Keith Coventry’s sculpture “Burgess Park SE5…” is a bronze cast of a young tree that has been snapped in half from vandalism. The sculpture represents how plans aiming for the ideal are unable to work out such as turning places into pleasant environments but being vandalised anyways. Both messages associated with the sculptures are vaguely connected to the symbolism trees hold although the context allows it to display it clearly. Burgess Park SE5, Planted 1983, Destroyed 1988 (1994) – Keith Coventry To conclude, 20th and 21st century art has trees depicted in interesting ways due to the materials available today and unique perspectives, whether it is used as a medium or inspiration. This opens up new ways for artists to present meaning through their work through symbolism and cultural context.

Bibliography

The Tate. Trees Coursework Guide - https://www.tate. org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/trees James Croak. Trees a Crowd - http://www.artnet.com/ magazineus/features/croak/trees-in-contemporaryart-1-31-12.asp Elena Nastyuk. The Tree as a Symbol in Art - https:// arthive.com/encyclopedia/123~The_tree_as_a_ symbol_in_art

Images

“Our Love is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours”, “Majesty”, “Tree” & “Burgess Park SE5, Planted 1983, Destroyed 1988” image - https://www. tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/trees “Bound V-57” image - http://www.artnet.com/ magazineus/features/croak/trees-in-contemporaryart-1-31-12_detail.asp?picnum=8 “The Hidden Life Within” image - https:// mymodernmet.com/guiseppe-penone-the-hidden-lifewithin/