MEMORY OF A BAOBAB TREE
Project Site: in praise of all Baobab trees / 2020
Virtual Reality Project
Critics: Miriam Peterson (research), Jason Kim (VR)
There’s something magical about a baobab tree. Living on vast savannas with extreme seasons of rain and drought, a baobab tree uses its body to store water, carry lives and endure fire.
This project includes two distinct story-telling explorations based on a baobab tree’s biological and ecological relationship with its environment. The first exploration is a 100-foot long drawing representing the scientific data about a baobab tree; the second exploration is a VR world created around a baobab tree and its memories frozen in time. With each portal leading to a piece of memory, the VR world constructs an interactive story told by an old, generous tree.
Research: Cycles around a baobab tree
100” x 6” drawing
A drawing describing the 4 time cycles in the life of a baobab tree:
- its flowers grow and die in a cycle of 24 hours;
- its cambium cells and trunks grow, swell and harden in the
seasonal cycle of rain and savanna fires.
- its carbon feedback to the environment in a cycle of 365 days;
- its relationship with all the lives it supports, feeds, gives birth to
and protects.
