The Third Ray » deforestation

Reality in Abstraction – The Images of David Maisel

Joe Zammit-Lucia — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 23:47:24 +0000

David Maisel’s work spans many different project over many years. One of his interests is in documenting through aerial photographs the impact that Man has on the landscape. The image above is from “The Mining Project” where he explores the effect of mining in “undoing of the landscape, in terms of both its formal beauty and its environmental politics.” Like other artists (eg Edward Burtynsky – previously reviewed in this blog), Maisel explores how aesthetic beauty can be created out of destructive and polluting processes.

Examining landscapes from The Great Salt Lake (above) to his project “The Forest” where he examines patterns created by floating logs and clear cut forests (below), Maisel draws us into unknown (and maybe unknowable) landscapes using images that “are charged by both their profane beauty and their ethically questionable nature.”

Below: Image from The Lake Project: “the stuff of California legend: a story of engineers, politicians, and big land owners working together to divert water to the rapidly growing desert city of Los Angeles, generating a thriving agricultural industry and an environmental disaster in the process.”

Trees In Concrete – David Brooks at MOMA PS1

Joe Zammit-Lucia — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:14:58 +0000

MOMA PS1 describes itself as a public exhibition space that “devotes its energy and resources to displaying the most experimental art in the world.” It’s current exhibit – Greater New York 2010 – runs until October and exhibits the work of emerging artists including an intriguing installation by David Brooks. The artist has assembled some plants and sprayed them with concrete. It is described in a New York Times article by Roberta Smith as follows: “David Brooks has earnestly assembled a representative chunk of tropical rain forest plant life and deluged it with concrete — something between an indoor Robert Smithson rundown and a landscape by George Segal — in protest of the destruction of nature by industry. The encased plants will die and decay, collapsing in a kind of slow-motion happening.”

David Brooks at MOMA PS1. Photo: New York Times

David Brooks has, it seems, been intrigued by deforestation for some time. The work below was presented in an exhibit entitled “New Perspectives in Contemporary Art” organized jointly by Affirmation Arts and Columbia University. The piece is entitled “Breathtaking Vistas of Deforestation” and the medium described as “60 laser copies laminated and sanded’ (yes, truly).

With the increasing importance being given to deforestation as a contributor to climate change, such work may acquire increased relevance.

Fallen Trees Come To Trafalgar Square in “Ghost Forest”

Joe Zammit-Lucia — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:36:36 +0000

On Monday, November 16th, Angela Palmer’s “Ghost Forest” opens in Trafalgar Square, London. This large and ambitious installation aims to draw attention to the link between deforestation and climate change.

The installation brings to London 10 rain forest tree stumps from a commercially logged, regulated rain forest in Ghana and installs them in Trafalgar Square to make what is doubtless one of the most striking visual statements ever about deforestation.

"Ghost Forest" - computer generated image of installation in Trafalgar Square

All the tree stumps in this installation came from trees that fell naturally due to adverse weather conditions. Seven different tree types are represented, all coming from the Suhuma forest reserve in Western Ghana.

Denya tree being washed prior to shipping

The scale of this installation and the size of the trees will no doubt be impressive. Some of these trees will have stood as high as Nelson’s column. Lasers will be installed to show how high these trees once stood in their natural spaces.

Tree stumps installed in Trafalgar Square

This video tells the story behind the installation.

In December, the installation will move to Thorvaldsens Plads, Copenhagen, to coincide with the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Copenhagen.