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Artist Meticulously Whittles Suspended Tree Trunk Into Realistic Sculpture of Tattered Rope

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Artist Maskull Lasserre is known for his inventive installations that “induce strangeness in the familiar, and provoke uncertainty in the expected.” For Schrodinger’s Wood, a suspended tree sculpture, Lasserre has expertly carved a large and lumbering tree trunk into a delicately detailed piece of frayed rope.

Cleverly named after the well-known thought experiment, Schrodinger’s Wood features a hanging tree trunk whose midsection has been whittled away into a realistic representation of unraveling rope. To retain much of the felled tree's original features—including its shape, texture, and natural orientation—Lasserre has opted to carve out only part of the trunk. In addition to preserving the tree's integrity, this avant-garde approach creates the suspenseful illusion that half of it will come crashing down once the tension-riddled, tattered “rope” finally snaps.

Like many of Lasserre's carved creations, Schrodinger’s Wood exhibits a straightforward and simple composition. The wooden sculpture itself is composed of an ash tree trunk, while only a chain hoist and gantry are used to hang it from the ceiling. This minimal approach to materials places emphasis on both the conceptual nature of the artwork and Lasserre's undeniably impressive sculptural skills.

If you'd like to learn more about Lasserre's fascinating installations—namely, those like Schrodinger’s Wood, which he describes as “physical thought-experiments, mechanical meditations, and as instruments for the shaping of thought processes”—be sure to check out his book, Pendulum. Additionally, you can keep up with his current projects and upcoming exhibitions on his website.

For his latest wood carving work of art, artist Maskull Lasserre has transformed a tree trunk into a tattered piece of rope.

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

He crafted the unique tree sculpture by meticulously whittling wood.

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre Wood Carving Tree Sculpture Whittling Wood

Maskull Lasserre: Website
h/t: [Colossal]

All images via Maskull Lasserre.

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Kelly Richman-Abdou

Kelly Richman-Abdou is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. An art historian living in Paris, Kelly was born and raised in San Francisco and holds a BA in Art History from the University of San Francisco and an MA in Art and Museum Studies from Georgetown University. When she’s not writing, you can find Kelly wandering around Paris, whether she’s leading a tour (as a guide, she has been interviewed by BBC World News America and France 24) or simply taking a stroll with her husband and two tiny daughters.
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