Tree Man is a response to the digital-driven culture of contemporary times – a notion encapsulated visually through the sculpture’s screen-shaped head.
The sculpture itself is a glowing beacon of inflatable light – in reference to the glowing lights of our devices, which if mishandled, can be so detrimental to circadian rhythms. The artwork also emphasises and highlights the importance of humans connecting with and nurturing the environment. This is expressed through the Tree Man character encircling a grand old tree in his arms – providing a wintry sanctuary for the tree and at the same time providing an inner sanctum or sanctuary for visitors.
Here-in lies the dilemma: our insatiable desire for technology is often damaging to us and the environment (the ICT industry being responsible for a large percentage of carbon emissions).
Tree Man embraces a tree in an intimate expression of our need for all things natural, and the importance of maintaining and nurturing the delicate balance of our own bodies as well as the balance of ecosystems. Tree Man and our environment at large, entreats us to find the balance between the digital and the natural for ourselves and our world. And so, Tree Man with his digital head and mesmerising light, invites everyone into his little sanctuary to dwell on the balance we must strike between our natural and digital worlds.
About the Artist
ENESS is a multi-award-winning art and technology studio, led by Artist and Founder Nimrod Weis. The studio has designed ground-breaking experiences worldwide for the last 20 years.
Forerunners of new media art, ENESS has frequently broken new ground reinterpreting existing mediums and fusing them with technology to create never-before-seen executions. The multidisciplinary team of creatives including artists, musicians, software engineers and industrial designers produce and install artworks for signature commercial buildings; urban and cultural precincts; festivals, galleries and museums of modern art.
The studio collective creates interactive artworks that forge greater community connection in the public realm through joy and happiness. In this way, they consider themselves to be Happiness Architects. At the heart of all ENESS work is joyful, cross-generational connection. ENESS strives to change public space by introducing unexpected and surprising work that forges deeper moments between friends, family and community; even enabling strangers to meet and find common ground.
