DANCING TREES II

DAVID DURLACH

YEAR

1992

LOCATION

Butler Institute

DESCRIPTION

Dancing Trees II by artist David Durlach is an exemplary example of the Bermant Collection’s interest in artwork that explores technology with humor and pleasure. The composed landscape is miniature in scale and lies dormant under a glass box until the viewer presses a button that brings the landscape to life. Suddenly the farm-like composition awakens and moves in a choreographed dance in time to the chosen music. What originally was appealing due to its scale and texture becomes interesting with the motion and the artist’s technical application of music, magnetic forces, and movement.
The audience is also forced to consider the idea of a choreographed landscape. The scale and the control that the viewer is able to exert on the small vegetation at will alludes to the way that humankind has a similar desire to command the land on a larger scale.