A single tree offers a unique way to chronicle the changes that happen over the course of a year. Showcasing this passage-of-time concept is the collaborative work titled One Tree Four Seasons by Swedish architect and artist Ulf Mejergren and Finnish artist Antti Laitinen. As the name suggests, they are creating four different artworks that revolve around one tree and using materials found in nature to do so. The results showcase the beauty, sometimes lush and other times stark, that the landscape has to offer with a big husk of branches surrounding the smaller trunk.
The tree stands alone in a field located outside Nykvarn, approximately a 45-minute drive from Stockholm. “[The project is] a celebration of our four seasons and the special relation that our nordic countries have to nature,” Mejergren tells My Modern Met. “The content of the artwork for each season is also treated with a very nordic approach, where one can sense a state of freedom and playfulness in all of the four seasons.”
Using materials that are specific to the grounds has proven to be both a physical and logistical challenge. “It has been quite physical work since the tree is standing in the middle of a field a bit away from the forest where we collect most of the material for the project,” Mejergren explains. “The field also gets very muddy when it rains so it's a bit like moving through a swamp sometimes.” Living in different countries also requires additional coordination. “Since we also live in two different countries, it takes quite some planning ahead for each work since every project also has a quite strict time frame.”
One Tree Four Seasons began in April 2022, and Mejergren and Laitinen have completed three seasons so far. They will finish Season IV in mid-December, weather permitting.
The collaborative work titled One Tree Four Seasons by Swedish architect and artist Ulf Mejergren and Finnish artist Antti Laitinen chronicle the changes that happen over the course of a year.
They are creating four different artworks that revolve around one tree and using materials found in nature to do so. Here is Season I:
It then progressed to Season II…
…and Season III:
The final season will be completed in December, weather permitting.
Ulf Mejergren: Website
Antti Laitinen: Website
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Ulf Mejergren.
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