By snoadmin
It all started with a tree, and not just any kind of tree. It was a California sycamore tree — beautiful, but alone — planted in the middle of a giant parking lot in front of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Six years ago, Joel Tauber fell in love with this tree and embarked on a mission to save it.
“I used to live close to [the Rose Bowl] and I would swim at the Rose Bowl … And when I saw the tree, it was surrounded by a sea of asphalt and it just poetically read to me as this forlorn, isolated, lonely individual,” Tauber said. “I was single at this time and so I related to the tree.”
Tauber, a Los Angeles artist and filmmaker, is one of many contemporary artists featured in the University Art Museum’s (UAM) current exhibition, “The Plains of Id: Mapping Urban Intervention in Los Angeles” at Cal State Long Beach.
Planting a “tree baby”
It was just past noon on March 9, 2011, when a small crowd gathered around a two-foot tree stem nestled in a black pot on the front lawn of the UAM.
The “tree baby” was gleaming in the sunlight and there stood Tauber in his white, long-sleeve shirt; faded blue jeans and red suspenders.
He stood proudly next to his beloved tree.
He pushed his dark-rimmed glasses up on his nose and began his speech: “Thank you so much for being here … I am really happy that this tree baby is going to have a wonderful home at Cal State Long Beach.”
The roots of the tree
The planting of the “tree baby” at CSULB was part of Tauber’s ongoing project entitled “Sick-Amour,” a plan that began at the Rose Bowl.
Tauber said he thought about doing a project with a tree in the past, but wasn’t sure if he was going to focus on a tree in an urban setting or in the wild.
“There’s been this shift in environmental philosophy where people are starting to think, and actually starting to make more sense, to advocate for things in our cities as opposed to trying to take care of remote areas,” Tauber said.
In June 2005, the “Sick-Amour” project was born. Tauber chronicled his project through a series of photographs, a 12-channel video installation in the shape of a tree, and a 33-minute documentary film.
Tauber made it his mission to save the sycamore as a symbolic gesture of love. His hope was not just for the salvation of one tree, but also for a fervent surge in the community to take care of all environmental aspects in city life.
In the trailer for his documentary film, Tauber summed up his feelings for the tree, saying: “I don’t want it to die from a drunken car driver backing into the tree or just someone who doesn’t see it. There are no lights near the tree and a lot of people probably don’t even care if they backed into the tree and killed it … but they should. It’s a beautiful tree. The tree may not be able to reproduce on its own, but it might be able to if I helped the tree reproduce. I want to take care of the tree … I love the tree.”
The adoption process
Prior to the project, four tiny black metal fences barricaded the tree and the surrounding asphalt cut off its oxygen supply. Cars constantly bumped and damaged its trunk.
As a result, Tauber devoted the following years to taking care of the tree. He started watering it on a regular basis and installed guards to protect the trees from looming cars. He even embellished the tree with giant ornaments, which he referred to as the tree’s “earrings.”
Tauber fought hard for its preservation and even collaborated with city officials in Pasadena to remove the asphalt beneath the tree’s canopy.
The tree gets cultivated
Tauber cultivated approximately 200 of the seedlings from the original tree. More than 100 trees have been planted throughout California, including the most recent plantation at CSULB.
Most students don’t notice the “tree baby” on the lawn of the UAM. However, generations from now, the tree will grow to a monumental size. For now, a small black sign with white lettering rests near the “tree baby,” explaining the works of Tauber and his vision for the tree.
A sparrow landed on the sign and Randy Teguh, accounting major at CSULB, did a double take. Like many other students, he had not noticed the tree.
“This is humbling,” Teguh said. “In the College of Business, we tend to forget about nature and other forms of life. It’s a reminder of the simplicity of living and growing.”
More of Tauber’s “Sick-Amour” project can be found at the UAM’s current exhibition, which runs until April 17.
“Joel Tauber proposes philosophical impressions about our relationship with nature and the environment as a means of investigating empathy, ethics and activism,” said Marielos Zeka, one of the program’s curators.
His documentary of the project, for which he was both the director and the protagonist, won critical acclaim by various publications, including Art Review Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.
“It was a story about loneliness, love and the environment,” Tauber said. “My goal is for people to think about what we have neglected to take care of in our surroundings. Maybe we will start noticing things neglected in the streets. Maybe people will start caring about the environment more … that’s what I hope.”
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