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Forest Apparatus Berlin, 2013

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Forest Apparatus, 2013 | tree sculpture, birch cast negative, silicone, aluminum, polyurethane, 210 x 80 cm | black-and-white photograph of the sculpture in Berlin’s Grunewald Forest: Forest Apparatus (Grey), 2013 | inkjet print, 29,7 x 21 cm


The sculpture Forest Apparatus is a birch tree in a forest. Even upon close examination it does not seem out of place, although it is in fact a decoy made of steel, building foam, and pigments, which is surrounded by live, growing trees. The innocent observer does not notice anything out of the ordinary; those looking for the fake have the opportunity to lose themselves in the woods. The search for a single tree transforms the forest into an exhibition of trees.


“A tree is a good place to begin. This one has the bark of a white birch. It is some twenty-four feet high; its foliage is obscured by that of neighbouring trees. For most innocent observers the tree remains simply a tree, growing in a forest. For those who know it is not quite a tree, it is Julius von Bismarck’s Forest Apparatus, an object made of aluminum tubing, coated with building foam, and painted to look like a birch. This apparatus is part of an experimental setup, in which looking for the work of art means scrutinising every tree that is encountered. The search for a tree is a test of the eye. It gives rise to a new way of looking at trees—an exhibition of the forest.”


Text: Laura Schleussner, Egomotion, in ‘Julius von Bismarck – Animals are dumb and plants are even dumber’, p. 24



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Forest Apparatus (Directions), 2013

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Forest Apparatus, 2013 (video still)

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Forest Apparatus, 2013 (video still)

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Forest Apparatus, 2013 (video still)

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Forest Apparatus, 2013 (video still)

https://juliusvonbismarck.com/bank/files/gimgs/th-29_IMG_9471-big-flat-grain.jpg

Forest Apparatus, 2013 | tree sculpture, birch cast negative, silicone, aluminum, polyurethane, 210 x 80 cm | photograph of the sculpture in Berlin’s Grunewald Forest: Forest Apparatus (Green), 2013 | inkjet print, 111,8 x 73,4 cm