'Tree Logic,' which has lined the entrance to Mass MoCA for 25 years, will be coming down for good next week. Prior trees from the installation have been transplanted in Williamstown and North Adams. The last trees will be planted at the museum.
Scientists weren't sure the trees could survive being inverted; once they outgrew their tubs, they were planted earthside and thrived.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The trees will no longer grow upside-down in the Steeple City.
Natalie Jeremijenko's meditation on resiliency, "Tree Logic," will be retired after 25 years of turning heads at the entrance to Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
The museum announced on its Facebook page this week that the trees will be removed. They will be on view until Monday.
The trees themselves haven't been there that long. Every so often, a new group of saplings is installed and their elders retired to grow naturally on Stone Hill at the Clark Art Institute, which funded the installation, and Colegrove Park, where museum visitors have been known to check on their condition. This last set will remain on the campus, at the end of the Speedway.
"This work, like Mass MoCA itself, defies logic and gravity while signaling that creativity comes in all forms. Jeremijenko conceived of Tree Logic as a work about change and persistence, as trees themselves are dynamic natural systems constantly in flux. In this work, the trees grow while upside down, yet they still instinctively reach for the sunlight," the museum wrote. "MASS MoCA is a non-collecting museum. The artworks on view range from new commissions organized with artists to loans from artists, galleries, estates, and collectors. So at some point, like the trees themselves, things must change."
Although a popular image here, the trees did evince a range of emotions, with some viewers disturbed at the distortion of nature.
Jeremijenko, also an engineer, had spoken with botanists when designing the installation. According to the museum's audio tour, the scientists were divided on how gravity would affect the trees once they were inverted. The trees grew and their branches curved toward the sun; once taken down and put right side up, they gracefully returned to their natural state.
"The branches correct themselves and bear little sign of their early beginnings, speaking to the resiliency of nature, cities and towns, and museums," posted Mass MoCA.
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Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff
Staff Reports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.
The defendant is being arraigned for:
Domestic Assault and Battery
Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)
According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.
She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.
Officers believed that Parker was armed.
To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.
Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.
Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.
Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.
Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.
A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.
During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.
"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said. "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."
On Friday, June 12, Matthew Parker will be arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court for an incident that occurred on Wednesday evening, June 10, into the early morning of Thursday, June 11. click for more
The upper section of Houghton Street was blocked off for hours on Wednesday night as authorities sought to deal with an individual reportedly having a mental health issue.
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