A site-specific installation at Yaffo 23 for the exhibition Mythographies (March 19 – June 22, 2013). With the help of agronomist and political writer Avinadev Begin, a huge amount of Tree of Heaven (lat. Ailanthus altissima) branches were collected from the Jerusalem area, in order to build a geometric structure in the exhibition space.
The Ailanthus tree is commonly regarded as a rampant weed, without any kind of use or value. The Detroit Tree of Heaven Woodshop has been working with the wood of this tree as a post-industrial resource to realize furniture, objects and installations. On the other hand Avinadav Begin has in his writings, discussed the perspective of Ailanthus as an invasive species, taking over the Jerusalem vegetation within the next ten years. Aware of the multi-layered symbolic meanings of this tree, we shared our experience and interests and realized the new installation.
Sol Lewitt’s Geometric Structures in mind, I aimed for a structure, which takes space and in the same time creates an own place, a structure to play the use/uselessness of the material off against the most rational construction principles.
Structure made of Ailanthus branches H 390 cm × W 260 cm x L 390 cm