Tree / Boom

With Tree / Boom, Spincemaille goes out into the world in search of trees that can tell a story. Part of the tree is trimmed during a public moment and a photo is taken. In a mobile lab, the photo is then processed into a picture – and this using only materials from the tree: paper, pigment and wood. Tree / Boom is conscious of the value of trees. In most cases only parts of the tree will be removed. Very rarely will an entire tree be felled. Tree / Boom is a social and democratic process. To get permission to use (parts of) a tree, Spincemaille will have to gain temporary access to a person, neighbourhood or organisation. Owners will have to be convinced of the value of removing (parts of) the tree. These interactions will not only give access to the raw materials (leaves, fruit, soil and wood), but, through storytelling, will also open up the past and present world of the people and place where the tree is located. A mobile lab will be developed in collaboration with the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL). Although it is not the intention to shock, each public felling or trimming of a tree will stir the emotions, despite the fact that, far out of our sight, thousands of trees are felled and animals killed annually for our combined consumption. As if our emotions are only triggered by what occurs in our immediate environment. People are estranged from the original context of the products they consume. In addition, consumed goods are dead things, separated from the living context that feeds them, and the ethical and ecological consequences of this separation play themselves out far from sight. Tree / Boom brings the raw materials and product/producer back into a close relationship with each other. Not only does Tree / Boom actively engage in dialogue with a society marked by great challenges, such as climate change, the depletion of natural resources and globalisation, but also discusses the role of art and artist in this challenged society. It is an attempt to break free from the common frameworks in both art and economics, inspiring itself to alternative ecological production methods. Tree / Boom connects an ecological problem with an artistic problem and creates an alternative artistic model where context, product, raw material and artist/artwork are held in relation to one other in a radically short chain.