Mass MoCA's Iconic Upside-Down Trees Being Retired
Scientists weren't sure the trees could survive being inverted; once they outgrew their tubs, they were planted earthside and thrived.
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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