A Tree Called Middle Fork
Hundreds of volunteers helped sculptor John Grade create the full plaster cast of a living tree that underpins this installation, called Middle Fork, at the Seattle Art Museum.

The sculpture follows the contours of a 140-year-old western hemlock tree located in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. The artist and more volunteers used the plaster cast to recreate the tree out of nearly one million small pieces of reclaimed old-growth cedar.

Middle Fork is currently 30 X 28 X 105 FT

The sculpture has had many extensions, and Grade plans more. He hopes to match the 140-foot length of the original living tree. Eventually, he plans to place the sculpture back in the forest, so it can decompose and return to the earth at the base of the original tree.
The work has also been shown at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC and was displayed at the 2017 Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Watch this short video, or go to the second video for a long look at the project.
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More on the project on John Grade’s website, here.


8 Comments
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Jo Lone
Magnifique, vraiment impressionnant. J’aurais aimé participé à cette oeuvre. Merci de nous la partager .
J Walters
Je suis content que vous avez aimé il
sedge808
this is so amazing
J Walters
I agree, and so are the rest of his large-scale installations. What a creative vision.
Laura (PA Pict)
That is absolutely stunning! What a wonderful project. I love everything about it, including the fact it was so collaborative.
J Walters
The volunteer side is amazing, I agree. Apparently, a total of more than 3,000 volunteers have participated in one way or another since the plaster cast was made. Even in Davos, Switzerland, apparently (where the sculpture was exhibited just before it went to the Seattle Art Museum)