RINAT IZHAK
 

 

Artistic residency 

 

VALDELARTE

Centre of Art and the Environment

 

PROYECT ARTIERRA

LA RAIZ DE UNO ES UNO

2013

 

 

When I arrived at Valdelarte, I went for a walk to get to know the área, and I found a horizontal pine tree, which attracted my attention in and of itself. The tree was trapped by vegetation and, because it had no room to grow, the trunk had developed horizontally, looking for sunlight. Strange. I noticed a strong branch which grew vertically just in the centre of the trunk, like a tree in itself, the same size as the other trees around it. It was a unique situation in that area, and it inspired me to create a work especially for this tree and to intervene in a very subtle way.

 

To make the intervention La Raíz de Uno (The Root of One), we looked for a strong chestnut tree which was try and already dead, to bring it and give it life as part of the work.

 

By placing it upside down underneath the pine branch, roots were created, separated from the ‘trunk’ above by the horizontal line of the pine tree: under the earth, the roots, and the vertical branch of the pine tree was presented as a separate tree.

 

The work is painted with chrome paint, its density graduated from top to bottom, which reflects the colours around it, as well people who approach the branches.

 

In the earth beneath the tree, I created a circle, using detritus which had fallen from the trees and the earth around the tree, in order to give it volume, and to create a nest for it, filling the circle with charcoal throughout the year.

 

Production support: