 TreeTime (1998)
Wood, copper, steel, aluminum, motors, computer;
approx. 96x96x72"; 200lbs.
Status: collection of Marcia Tanner
Exhibited for the first time this June at New Langton Arts in San Francisco as part of
an exhibition called Dromology: ecstasies of Speed, curated by Marcia Tanner.
TreeTime is a computer-controlled robotic sculpture fabricated from parts of a downed
tree.
 This past winter, Paul Stout, who helped me with this project, and I
scoured the regional parks searching for the perfect tree to scavenge for this
project. I think we found it. It was a slim, twisted, beautiful Laurel which
had been struck by lightning. So like a mad scientist, I have reanimated it,
excising undesirable elements and augmenting the natural materials with the best
technology has to offer.
This ‘improved’ tree has six large articulated joints fabricated from copper
and brass, moved by cables pulled by gearmotors at the tree's base. In addition,
there are sixteen small motorized branchlets. Stainless steel cable housings and
wiring bundles cover nearly every inch of the tree's surface. On each branch is a
light sensor which gives the computer in formation about the proximity of viewers. The computer
sends microsecond pulses to the motors, in patterns derived from the sensor
information. Near each motor is a tiny red light, which illuminates breifly each
time the corresponding motor is pulsed. In this way the piece moves in
response to viewer presence. However, the pulses to the motors are so short
that the piece's movement occurs over minutes, hours an d days. To all but the most intrepid viewer, it appears to be a
static object.
This machine is I think equal parts meditation on slowness and bastardization of
nature. The obvious reference to Mary Sheeley's Frankenstein in the lightning-struck
tree, the garish reassembly, the electrification, the technological
"improvement" upon the original organism, is intentional. Paul calls it
eco-porn, which I think is nice; pornography is a rich word. And to it I'd add the
word ecstasy, because it too carries multiple, sometimes contradictory and sometimes
sympathetic, meanings. These words' multiple interpretations evoke the dissonance I
tried to create in the work.
 I associate both words with
TreeTime, because of the pleasure
and the pain, the beauty and the obscenity of the endeavor. In that sense, Treetime
is a morality story about limits. It’s also called TreeTime because it’s a
robotic sculpture whose movement is sessile; that is, plant-like. It’s meant to be
frustratingly slow. For all these reasons and more, I wanted this piece to be the
anti-speed (the antidote) in an exhibition full of quick ruminations on accelerated
culture.
For code listings, schematics and CAD drawings, see the Technical Details.
|
