PLAY VIDEO EXCERPT #1
PLAY VIDEO EXCERPT #2
BURROW
CAROLE KIM direction/video installation
THERESA WONG cello/voice
PHIL CURTIS electronics
SHEL WAGNER RASCH dance
LYN HORTON drawings
LEHRER ARCHITECTS, Los Angeles, CA
www.lehrerarchitects.com
Burrow marks the conclusion of a month-long residency at Lehrer Architects. It has been a most supportive and conducive
environment in which to work and contemplate. I extend a special thanks to Michael Lehrer and everyone at Lehrer
Architects for making it possible and enjoyable.
Translucency and projected light have long been an area of investigation for me. For Burrow I was focusing on the intimate
spaces that are carved out of the many layers of screen mesh, how form and gesture can be defined with strands of reflec-
ted light off the monofilament, and how these spaces can be occupied. Over the site of the installation hovers this monu-
mental tree that would keep dropping tons of leaves on me. Sweeping became a daily ritual. Finally, I decided (or the tree
convinced me) that the leaves had to become part of it. Jeanette at Lehrer Architects informed me that the tree is a
"Tree of Heaven [or Alianthus]"
In China, the Tree-of-Heaven is mentioned in the oldest extant Chinese dictionary and listed in countless medical texts
for its purported ability to cure ailments ranging from mental illness to baldness. The roots, leaves and bark are still used
today in traditional Chinese medicine, primarily as an astringent. The tree has been grown extensively both in China and
abroad as a house plant for the ailanthus silkmoth, a moth involved in silk production. Brought to this country in 1784,
Tree-of-heaven is now a common tree in urban areas, where it sprouts up just about anywhere, including alleys, sidewalks,
parking lots, and streets. The book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” by Betty Smith, is based on the Tree-of-heaven. It is a
fast-growing tree and a prolific seeder, that can take over sites, replacing native plants and forming dense thickets.
Ailanthus also produces chemicals that prevent the establishment of other plant species nearby.
And of course now I’ve been noticing this tree everywhere! The leaves, which at first seemed limitlessly abundant, have
become a precious commodity post-windstorm.