Has Never Seen a Tree

The exhibition 'Has Never Seen a Tree' offers a perspective that is not familiar with trees. It points to a time in the past or future where trees either do not yet exist or no longer exist. When viewed from the future, a picture emerges of a bleak, oppressive world. However, even if trees were to disappear from the world, they would remain in our collective consciousness in the form of linguistic expressions and thought structures that carry the memory of the missing plant. Trees have long been not only living organisms, but also part of our culture. If we look to the past, we have to delve so far back in time to find a place without trees that the vastness of time almost makes us dizzy. Nevertheless, our relationship with trees is very indirect; they must become either wood or a medium for us to take notice of them. Recognising trees as living beings is challenging. In the objects of the exhibition, the tree trunk is presented as a mediator, a carrier, marked with legible signs; it is a channel through which meaning seeps slowly. Split open to reveal its annual rings, the tree trunk tells the story of its life and imparts its wisdom. The inscriptions carved into the bark provide evidence that we already treat living trees as media. The billboards built around trees, which typically feature loud, competing messages, remain silent here. They reject the urge to communicate, turning their attention inwards and aligning themselves with the shape of the tree.