ABOUT TREES

Thinking about trees

Peter Fischer and his team have brought together over 100 works for the exhibition and the volume ABOUT TREES. Whether the waxy, shimmering tree stumps wrapped in huge rags by Berlinde De Bruyckere, the oil painting of a sparse forest with fragments of a Corbusier building in the background by Peter Doig, the powerful, upside-down b/w photograph of an oak tree by Rodney Graham or the photo of a fruit tree blown up by Michael Sailstorfer, the artistic works always depict the tree as a motif that can be interpreted in many different ways. Specifically, it is about how the theme of the tree can "symbolically raise fundamental questions of existence". Art has an advantage over science and religion in that it has to raise questions, not provide answers. It can therefore present the tree as a "symbol, mirror and projection object", showing how it stands for life and/or death. However, the tree is also suitable as a theme for "clashes and inspirations", as it can be used as an example to trace the history of man's interaction with nature, emphasising at the same time that the dichotomy between nature and culture does not necessarily have to lead to destruction. For, according to Robert Macfarlane in his contribution "Buchenhain", from a branch or a crown, man not only looks down on the world liberated, but can even feel secure in it, as a kind of hybrid of "tree and man". Accordingly, according to the editor of the volume Peter Fischer, the tree is also ideally suited as an "image for imaginary worlds and the embodiment of real worlds", for example when it begins to speak as in a fairy tale and formulates its own laws; and "durable and enduring as it is, the tree has the ability to lend identity to the place where it is located. As a striking object, it contributes to the individual image of a place. It is a witness to the history of its place. Under a tree, justice was dispensed and executed, celebrations and feasts were held."

Artists:
Carlos Amorales, Ursula Biemann & Paulo Tavares, Merijn Bolink, Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Mark Dion, Peter Doig, Valérie Favre, Anya Gallaccio, Rodney Graham, Katie Holten, John Isaacs, Naoko Ito, Wiliam Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Paul Klee, Rosemary Laing, Žilvinas Landzbergas, Ndary Lo, Paul McCarthy, Ana Mendieta, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Paul Morrison, Shirin Neshat, Jill Orr, Renzo Piano, Pipilotti Rist, Ugo Rondinone, Julian Rosefeldt, Michael Sailstorfer, George Steinmann, Wolfgang Tillmans, Su-Mei Tse, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto

Exhibition:
Paul Klee Centre Bern, 17/10/2015 - 24/1/2016