Long Death Becoming
Between the severing of a trunk and tree’s desiccated end is the long death. These American Cherry Laurel trees do not participate in the frenzied bursting forth of the Alabama summer, but instead wither under its heat. A period of deracinated dying frames the moment of observation and intervention over which this installation plays out. The changing condition of the trees throughout this process has led to a series of examinations of the trees in terms of form, material and social and ecological impact.
Death is a reality that has worked its way through this work as it has through conversations in Alabama and around the world about COVID-19 and the murder of people of color by police in the United States. While seeing the trees towards their own ends, I have explored connections to many forms of death and dying going on around us. These connections began with dying experiments with the bark of the trees, known for its high content of hydrogen cyanide—a powerful poison that inhibits cellular respiration as well as a vital building block for early life on earth. I have since worked with leaves, with wire and with water in a series of works connecting natural process to cultural practices and to the human events that have shaped 2020.
Nathaniel Trost