TREE LOVING CARE (2024)
MEDIUM
Trees, cyanotype ribbons, trash, garbage grabber, uniform performers
LOCATION
Art In Odd Places: CARE on 14th Street, October 18 - 20, 2024
TLC transforms street trees into care stations. Located at various corners of 14th Street, this performance invites participants to connect with and care for trees, highlighting their ecological and social benefits. It includes lively performances that emphasize the nurturing relationship between humans and trees.
The performance includes experimental movement with tools used in street tree care, embodying trees through gesture, collecting trash, and eliciting haikus and tree wishes from passersby. We wrap trees with cyanotype-printed ribbons displaying collected wishes like "Swaying in the breeze / Willows' arms create a room / graceful, patient giants." Street tree care becomes performance art, demonstrating how nurturing relationships between humans and trees can spark attention, inquiry, and joy. These practices inspire people to notice trees differently, cultivating the care that sustains interspecies kinship in urban environments.
COLLABORATORS
Laura Nova, Michele Kahane, and Sara Koller form part of CareLab, blending their expertise in art, design, education, and meteorology to address the crisis in care. They create projects that foster empathy and solidarity, particularly in public spaces.
SPECIAL THANKS
CareLAB at The New School, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, USDA Forest Service, The Nature of Cities, and the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
AiOP 2024 Care Website and Selected Press | Press Release
Care as Kindship, The Nature of Cities, July 16, 2025|PDF
