Platanlønn, Acer pseudoplatanus, 1948-2023 59.862785°N 5.562311°Ø

Abstract

This essay is part of an artistic research project, in which I have used my experiences from felling trees, wood and metal work, outdoor life, and analogue photography to explore the following problem: How can a deep ecological perspective on one's own creative practice of photographing, felling, and processing a tree help to understand the sense of melancholy that accompanies this work? The creative work has consisted of photographing, felling, and processing a large sycamore, a blacklisted tree In Norway, to which the title refers. I developed one of the photographs on a large board that I cut out of the thickest part of the trunk. This board was exhibited together with a bronze plaque I cast which reads Sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, 1948-2023, 59.862785°N 5.562311°E, surrounded by photographs of the sycamore's own seeds and trees growing close to it. Five short texts representing different approaches to the problem were presented together with the pictures, and it is these texts that have been expanded into this essay. The project is inspired by artistic expressions in literature and visual arts that thematize environmental destruction and man's relationship with nature. Together with Roland Barthes' thoughts on the photograph as a sign and Arne Næss's relational understanding of the self, these have challenged me as an art teacher to rethink my own practice as a teacher and craftsman.