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The Sculpture
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Simon has created a replica of a fallen Norway spruce from white porcelain. The tree is in two parts; a trunk, nearly nine metres long, and the stump from which it appears to have been cut. Raised slightly above the ground on steel legs, the trunk seems to hover above the forest floor.
Ghost was made by taking plaster casts from sections of a dead tree, moulding them in porcelain and firing them at a very high temperature. The porcelain sections were joined together, strengthened with a steel frame and filled with concrete to make the whole work even stronger and weather proof. The porcelain, a material usually associated with delicate and fragile objects, is in this case, virtually indestructible.
Simon was inspired by a piece of crumpled paper that he found discarded on the forest floor, “It was almost pulsating because it was so white “. He sought to recreate the same startling impression with a ghostly tree. Ghost is intended to be a contradiction. It both stands out, light against dark like an intriguing scar, but blends in with its surroundings, being an exact copy of a forest tree. It also refers to the process of regeneration that takes place in the forest. Unless they are dangerous, dead trees are not removed, but allowed to rot down and contribute to the life cycle of the forest. This one, however, is a permanent monument to the spirit of Tyrebagger. |
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