Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to Bamboo Theater, 2015-ongoing.

Photo-realistic image of a mature living tree with numerous lush flowering branchesspreading out from side to side, illustrating the artist’s project to grow a tree with 40 different fruits. The image appears to be generated digitally (using a computer program.) Each cluster of blossoms is a distinctly different color from the adjacent cluster. The overall impression is a tree splotched in color in graded saturated shades of pinks, fuchsias, corals and purples. The trunk and visible branches are almost black contrasting with the brightness of the blossoms making them “pop”. The tree is contained in a low-walled diamond shaped planter, situated on an elevated planked surface, resembling a rooftop. Within the pictorial space, the tree is placed prominently in the foreground with its branches horizontally stretching practically from edge to edge. An industrial lot is in the background bordered by a body of water (a river, a canal) and in the distance on the opposite bank, there is a city scape with high-rise buildings. A pale blue sky with wispy clouds is above. The juxtaposition of the beautifully colored natural form against a comparatively drab urban setting is striking. A ray of light from the left creates a glare which seems to make the blossoms shimmer. By rendering the blossom clusters in different intense shades of color, the artist emphasizes the objective of his project to graft different fruits onto the branches of a single tree with each fruit having its own distinct blossom characteristics.

Tree of 40 Fruit, 2008-ongoing
bare root tree, rendering, drawing, tree of 40 fruit.
Courtesy of Sam Van Aken and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts.
NATURE.052

FPT University Ho Chi Minh City

FPT University Ho Chi Minh City
model, rendering.
Courtesy of Vo Trong Nghia Co., Ltd.
NATURE.048

Stencil, Bamboo

Stencil, Bamboo
mulberry paper (kozo washi) treated with fermented persimmon tannin....
Gift of Helen Snyder.
1976-103-275

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Chestnut Bowl, Cover And Plate

Chestnut Bowl, Cover And Plate
lead-glazed earthenware ("cream ware").
1931-82-34-a/c

This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.