Art workInstallationInteractive
A Responsive Universe Dwelling in a Tabunoki Tree
2024
00:01:03
According to various studies, in forests, trees are connected to one another through networks of mycorrhizal fungi, recognizing each other and exchanging nutrients. At the center of this coexistence and mutual support are large, long-lived trees. Forest ecologist Suzanne Simard calls such large trees mother trees.
When a person approaches the tree, the nearest sphere glows brightly and emits a tone. The surrounding spheres respond one after another, continuing in sequence as they glow and sound.
The tree is a tabunoki, a Japanese bay tree. In the poem “Iso no ue no tsumama o mireba ne o hae te toshifukakarashi kami sabinikeri” from the Man'yōshū, the oldest existing anthology of Japanese poetry, compiled from the late 7th century to the late 8th century, the word “tsumama” is said to refer to the tabunoki. The meaning is: “Looking at tsumama on the seaside rocks, it seems to have spread its roots far and lived many years. It has become divine.” Even 1,200 years ago, people may have felt a sense of mystery when seeing roots extending far into the forest as a whole.
Work page:
https://www.teamlab.art/jp/ew/tabunoki-tree-izura/izura/