As mentioned previously, one of the main influences behind this current project is the exhibition Among The Trees at the Hayward Gallery. As I wasn’t able to attend this in person, I bought the exhibition catalogue to have a better idea of the curation ethos and the concepts involved.
Included within the catalogue is an essay named The Age of Trees, written by Ralph Rugoff (Director, Hayward Gallery). I read this piece on the morning of 12 May 2020 and discovered a wealth of information in relation to the work I was currently producing.
After a couple of weeks focusing on images (including production, editing, etc.), it was the perfect input for me to explore the concepts behind what I was actually doing. For example, Rugoff starts off this piece by outlining the universal importance of trees. This includes aspects such as social, cultural, mythological, historical, religious, iconical, and medical. Rugoff continues to highlight trees’ importance in our language, specifically stating how:
‘in our everyday phrases we find reflections of our long-standing connection with arboreal life: we speak of having roots, of activities bearing fruit, of branches of government.’
(Rugoff, R. 2012 pp. 10)
Rugoff continues to describe how:
‘we also make use of dendritic structures as a model for thought and decision-making, including for artificial intelligence’.
(Rugoff, R. 2020 pp. 10)
This is similar to my concept of the trees shot in sections, not whole, then combined. This then reverses the dendritic model by applying the concept of people appearing on screens separately but together. My images of trees for this project are a metaphorical representation of how we are currently living our lives.
After this introduction to the concept of ‘trees’. Rugoff continues with his thoughts on the tree’s apparent relegation to the background throughout much of Western art history over the past 500 years. At the time of the initial writing of this post, I was still processing the points made in this piece and the work that was referenced. As such, I will be revisiting the certain aspects that resonated with me in regards to this particular project.
References
Rugoff, R., The Age of Trees (2020), Rugoff, R. and Mues, M., 2020. Among The Trees. Hayward Gallery Publishing.
Currently being written in preparation for 28 April 2020!
A further task for the seminar on 28 April 2020 was to give special emphasis to a reference I had selected, the Among The Trees exhibition. This reference would be then discussed among the group during the seminar with regards to my project.
For this task, I had to choose between two options to complete it. The choice was between conducting a short interview/conversation with someone who is in some way connected to this reference and writing a short (400-500 word) reflective review of this exhibition.
This reflective review could also be of resources related to the reference, including:
gallery talks
interviews
an article
online conversations/talks/events
For this task, I chose the latter. As I wasn’t able to visit this in person, I used the available online resources to write the following. Fortunately, on the website was a virtual tour of the exhibition presented and narrated by Ralph Rugof – Director, Hayward Gallery.
During this virtual tour, Rugof explains how the interlacing network of branches
The interlacing network of branches,
Among The Trees was held in the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre in London from 4 March to 17 May 2020. It was one of the exhibitions that I had scheduled to visit, but this was now impossible due to the government restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overarching concept of this exhibition was to explore humanity’s relationship with trees and forests. According to the exhibition’s website page, Among The Trees:
Transports us around the world – from Colombian rainforests and remote Japanese islands to olive orchards in Israel and a 9,550-year-old spruce in Sweden. By drawing attention to the beauty, scale and complexity of trees and forests, the 38 artists in this exhibition turn our vision of the natural world on its head, inviting us to see it with new eyes.
Whether exploring the way that trees – with lifespans much longer than our own – challenge how we think about time, or revealing how they are intimately entangled with human affairs, these artists enliven and expand our appreciation of these remarkable organisms.
The artists whose work was being exhibited were:
Robert Adams, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Yto Barrada, Johanna Calle, Gillian Carnegie, Tacita Dean, Peter Doig, Jimmie Durham, Kirsten Everberg, Anya Gallaccio, Simryn Gill, Rodney Graham, Shi Guowei, Hugh Hayden, Eva Jospin, Kazuo Kadonaga, William Kentridge, Toba Khedoori, Luisa Lambri, Myoung Ho Lee, Zoe Leonard, Robert Longo, Sally Mann, Steve McQueen, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Mariele Neudecker, Virginia Overton, Roxy Paine, Giuseppe Penone, Abel Rodríguez, Ugo Rondinone, George Shaw, Robert Smithson, Jennifer Steinkamp, Thomas Struth, Rachel Sussman, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Jeff Wall.
As I’ve written in a previous post, I have already seen the work of Ugo Rondione. This was the sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree.
This is how it looks within the gallery setting (taken from the exhibition’s website).
While
4 MAR – 17 MAY 2020
By turns poetic, adventurous and thought-provoking, this group exhibition explores our relationship with trees and forests.
Alongside sculptures and installations, drawings, paintings and photographs, there are artworks that celebrate the soaring scale of trees. These include a monumental sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree by Ugo Rondinone; a cinematic portrait of a 30-metre-high spruce tree by Eija-Liisa Ahtila; and a vast forest of trees constructed entirely from cardboard by Eva Jospin.
At a time when the destruction of the world’s forests is accelerating at a record pace, Among the Trees vividly highlights the indispensable role that trees play in our lives and imaginations.
Featured artists
R
The exhibition is kindly supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
In this short video, Hayward Gallery Curatorial Assistant Marie-Charlotte Carrier explores one of the themes of our Among the Trees exhibition – the way that trees, with lifespans so much longer than our own, challenge the way that we think about time, and put our human lives in perspective.
Trees have this really special way of making us feel small. They make us realise how short lived we are as a species, compared to these giants who have been on this earth for thousands and thousands of years. They create a different sense of time.
During the scheduled session for 28 April, I had to discuss the contextualisation of my project, both specifically in relation to relevant photographic issues and debates (both contemporary and historical) and in relation to fields outside of photography.
To prepare for this session and the purposes of discussion, I had to complete three tasks. This involved bringing a triple set of references that I felt was integral to my own work.
The first of these references had to be a contemporary one within the field of photography/art. For this task, I chose the exhibition, Among The Trees. This was being shown at the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre, London from 4 March to 17 May 2020.
Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the exhibition itself while it was on. Fortunately, there was a whole wealth of information on the Southbank Centre’s website that I could refer to. This included virtual tours, interviews with artists, and podcasts. I also ordered the exhibition catalogue and was waiting for it to be delivered at the time of writing this post. The expected arrival date was between 2 and 6 May 2020.
During the session, I had to be prepared to present this contemporary reference to the group. I also had to explain how Among The Trees had informed my project so far and helped to propel it forwards.
A further task was to give special emphasis to one of the three references and I have selected Among The Trees for this purpose. I had two choices in how to do this. The first choice was to conduct a short interview/conversation with someone who is in some way connected to Among The Trees. The second choice was to write a short (400-500 word) reflective review of an exhibition, gallery-talk, interview, film, novel, article, online conversation/talk/event, etc. related to this contemporary reference for the purposes of discussion amongst the group.
I chose the latter option, the result of which can be read here:
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 