EMERITUS (Sequoia)
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.
Central Memorial Union Quad: 44.566109, -123.278734
October 2022 through December 2023 (temporary installation)
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Salvaged wood and cast resin parts suspended from eight nets within a sequoia grove, 80 feet high and 12 to 16 feet in diameter.
Emeritus is inspired by shifting boundaries of tree growth, especially how people contribute to this change through wildfire management and assisted migration when replanting after burns. On the OSU campus, the sculpture is suspended around the vertical form of an absent tree. Located within a grove of giant sequoia, viewers can peer upward into the hollow space of an imagined trunk surrounded by tens of thousands of cast and carved pieces that reference cones, needles, and branches. Lower suspended parts carved in wood are also superficially burned to invoke the tree’s complex relationship to wildfire.
The sculpture is fairly hidden from view when approached from outside the grove of trees during the day. At night, when the sculpture is softly illuminated with artificial light inside the grove, it functions more like a quiet beacon inviting people inside.
During the 14 months the sculpture was suspended inside the grove, OSU College of Forestry researchers collected data about the ecological conditions within the sculpture and surrounding trees. The data collection included:
Bioacoustic monitoring of the sequoia grove for avian communities. This technique relies on artificial intelligence to auto-ID bird sounds recorded throughout the tree canopy. The data help researchers understand how species are changing in response to climate and habitat change. Audio recorders capture bird species (and other species such as bats) that are hard to see, but vocalize often.
Using automated dendrometers to track tiny changes in trunk diameter that take place throughout the day and across seasons. This allows researchers to better understand a tree’s growth from the soil and the air in response to weather variations.
Creating an inventory of canopy biodiversity by collecting eDNA data from rainwater that percolates through the tree canopy and touches plant, animal, and fungal species on its way to the forest floor. Using this novel method, researchers can detect well-known and new species.
In December 2023, Emeritus was removed from within OSU’s sequoia grove and the components were reassembled onto twelve differently shaped nets to be reconfigured in a second installation (sponsored by the Anchorage Museum) on a small island near Mentasta Lake, in Alaska’s interior on Ahtna land.
The second iteration of Emeritus in Alaska in 2024 can be seen here.
Emeritus at OSU was presented by the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative arts, the College of Forestry, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Office of the Provost at Oregon State University.
More than 200 people from the OSU community helped us to assemble and suspend the sculpture. Project leaders from our studio were Lindsey Champlin and Quinlyn Johnson.
Photography: Blake Brown: project images 1, 4, 6-7 and process images 1-4, 6-10
EMERITUS (Sequoia)
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.
Central Memorial Union Quad: 44.566109, -123.278734
October 2022 through December 2023 (temporary installation)
Salvaged wood and cast resin parts suspended from eight nets within a sequoia grove, 80 feet high and 12 to 16 feet in diameter.
Emeritus is inspired by shifting boundaries of tree growth, especially how people contribute to this change through wildfire management and assisted migration when replanting after burns. On the OSU campus, the sculpture is suspended around the vertical form of an absent tree. Located within a grove of giant sequoia, viewers can peer upward into the hollow space of an imagined trunk surrounded by tens of thousands of cast and carved pieces that reference cones, needles, and branches. Lower suspended parts carved in wood are also superficially burned to invoke the tree’s complex relationship to wildfire.
The sculpture is fairly hidden from view when approached from outside the grove of trees during the day. At night, when the sculpture is softly illuminated with artificial light inside the grove, it functions more like a quiet beacon inviting people inside.
During the 14 months the sculpture was suspended inside the grove, OSU College of Forestry researchers collected data about the ecological conditions within the sculpture and surrounding trees. The data collection included:
Bioacoustic monitoring of the sequoia grove for avian communities. This technique relies on artificial intelligence to auto-ID bird sounds recorded throughout the tree canopy. The data help researchers understand how species are changing in response to climate and habitat change. Audio recorders capture bird species (and other species such as bats) that are hard to see, but vocalize often.
Using automated dendrometers to track tiny changes in trunk diameter that take place throughout the day and across seasons. This allows researchers to better understand a tree’s growth from the soil and the air in response to weather variations.
Creating an inventory of canopy biodiversity by collecting eDNA data from rainwater that percolates through the tree canopy and touches plant, animal, and fungal species on its way to the forest floor. Using this novel method, researchers can detect well-known and new species.
In December 2023, Emeritus was removed from within OSU’s sequoia grove and the components were reassembled onto twelve differently shaped nets to be reconfigured in a second installation (sponsored by the Anchorage Museum) on a small island near Mentasta Lake, in Alaska’s interior on Ahtna land.
The second iteration of Emeritus in Alaska in 2024 can be seen here.
Emeritus at OSU was presented by the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative arts, the College of Forestry, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Office of the Provost at Oregon State University.
More than 200 people from the OSU community helped us to assemble and suspend the sculpture. Project leaders from our studio were Lindsey Champlin and Quinlyn Johnson.
Photography: Blake Brown: project images 1, 4, 6-7 and process images 1-4, 6-10
PROCESS