Home New Zealand – August 01, 2019

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ThereareseventreesandthesitesI’veengaged
acrossthecityareactiveplayersinthework’s
conceptualframework.Oneofthetreesissituatedat
theUniversityofArchitecture,whichrelatestothe
waytelecommunicationsinfrastructurehasbecome
partofourbuiltenvironment;there’sonesituatedat
thehospital,whichisasa placewhereweconfront
mortality,aswellasa placeofnaming,andofthe
microscopic;andthere’sanothertree in the aptly
namedParkofRemembrance.

Thetree-celltowersarekindofhideous– especially
foryou,givenyourworkoftenhasa veryprecise
andconsideredbeauty.Howdidyougettheidea
toworkwiththem?
I firstencountereda ‘stealthcelltower’inLos
Angeles,whichI’dseenasa palmtreeonthesideofthe
freeway.Humansarehardwiredtomimic,butinthe
caseofthesecelltowersdisguisedastrees,theattempt
toconcealactuallydoestheopposite– theobject
becomesmoreconspicuous.Inseekingtobenature,
theydisplaceit.
Thetreesareresource-heavy:they’remadeofsteel
andplasticinChina.They’realsoverydeliberately
pine. In New Zealand, pine isn’t actually treated

AboveVenetianantiquity

asa backdropforPosthoc.

AboveleftPine-treetower

at IUAVUniversityofVenice.

LeftSant’ElenaGardensat

the Park of Remembrance.

asnature– it’sa technologyanda formofcapital.

Wegrowpinesfasterandmoreaggressivelythan

anywhereelseintheworld,andit’sa hugepartofour

economy.Already,wehavea strangerelationshipto

them– evenintheirnaturalstate,they’re wildings

• aninvasivespeciestobeculled.

I thoughtthemosttroublingthingaboutthetrees

wasthattheyspeaktous,readingyourlists,forcing

ustothinkaboutthingsthathavepast.What’sthe

significanceofthelistsforyoupersonally?

Thelistsbegangrowingthroughanintensive

processofmeandering.Thatwasa reallyexcitingpart

oftheprojectandit’stheheartoftheworkforme.

Someofthoselistsaredeeplysad.Islands,forinstance

featureprominently,particularlyintheextinction

ofbirds,lostenvironmentsandcollapsedoceanic

habitats.OneconclusionI’vecometoisthatthework

isalsoa productofmyownfilterbubble.Thelistsare

thesizeofmyworld,throughthelanguageI speak,

mygeographicallocationandthepredominanceof

Westernthoughtandbeliefsystems.Sosomeofthe

listscanbeseenina dualway– aslostandwithdrawn

things,butalsoevidenceofwhohasmoreprominence

in the knowledge economy, and who has less.