Mid Unit Post 4

by: Rob Swatski

I chose this picture because it represents the connection that the artist talks about when describing his dendroids. He has so many branches on them because they are supposed to be connected like all of the living matter is connected in ecosystems. The circulatory system is something that is complex but works together to keep one being alive. Paine creates his dendroids with the idea that they are a part of a large system that works together to keep an ecosystem alive. If they are destroyed, the entire system will suffer.

by: JR P

In many of the pictures the dendroids look very shiny, beautiful and clean, but many of the dendroids are actually bent and gnarled and not so perfect looking. Some of the trees are split and the metal looks shredded because it is meant to be an expression of negative effects in nature created by humans. This tree is beautifully made but there are other parts of his sculpture that are not so beautiful.

by: Terry Kearney

This one is just a picture of nature. The artist, Roxy Paine, tends to use many natural themes in his work. He deals very often with sculptures and in addition to his dendroids he once created a room covered with mushroom-like sculptures. Many of his sculptures deal mostly with botanical themes although he does sometimes use mechanical ideas. These two ideas are both fused to create Paine’s dendroids.

by: Ciro Miguel

This is the image of Maelstrom, the sister sculpture of Askew in Central Park, NYC. It is many of these single dendroids leaned over, seemingly connected to each other. Askew, the structure that I am studying is these trees standing up straight and surrounding the main art building. Maelstrom has a very strategic location. It was placed in Central Park, arguably the height of urbanization in the United States, to make a statement about how materials like concrete and steel are taking over natural areas through their demand for resources.

by: CIFOR

This image relates to the theme of humans and industry destroying the planet. The artist’s dendroid trees are made of steel and they are barren with no leaves. This steel highlights the human influence in industrializing the world and the barren dendroids highlight the result of this industry on the environment. This image shows the aftermath of deforestation which relates to Paine's Askew which highlights the destruction of trees.