Rings

2018
site-specific installation (screen printing on silicon) and a series of field workshops
Coauthors: Anna Siekierska and Małgorzata Gurowska

A site-specific installation consisting of 32 silicon rings mounted on trees in a city garden surrounding the Center for Contemporary art Zamek Ujazdowski in Warsaw. They are placed 1.30 m above ground level, which refers to a parameter called DPH (diameter at breast height), used by foresters to estimate the amount of timber volume that can be produced from a tree, but can also be an indicator that a tree should be protected as a monument. The silicon rings present technical excerpts from a dendrological report that was prepared for this park. The report assessed the condition of each tree and its risk of failure. This work is a statement in a fiery debate taking place in Poland on what is the responsibility and the role of nature in the cityscape, where trees are evaluated mostly as a source of threat. In this project I played a double role — of a biologist and an artist. I carried out a series of workshops addressing field observations of trees from the garden.