Witness Tree, 2017
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago
Witness Tree, a collaborative work with Amber Ginsburg, is a marker in both space and time. The title phrase is drawn from the colonial land survey practice used to grid the landscape into plots for private and government ownership. The bark of a witness tree was scarred for identification, and the property lines were drawn in relation to its placement. This Witness Tree is an entire young oak that has been transformed into pure carbon through charcoalization. Its position, in the corner of the gallery and of a city block, marks our relation to colonial attitudes of land use and resources. Its material – carbon now sequestered for up to 2000 years – allows us to glimpse beyond those attitudes into deep time.
Curated by Holly and Zachary Cahill
