Tree by Dutch designer Simon Heijdens is a public installation that renders a portrait of a city in time.

The silhouette of a tree is drawn in light on the facade of a building. As darkness falls, the tree comes to life, its branches and leaves moving slightly with an intensity that depends on actual wind that moves around it. Throughout the evening and into the night, the tree records activity in the local environment and responds to those conditions by slowly changing form over time. Sound, wind and movement are co-conspirators in the tree's transformation, rendering a poetic experience of nature in the city while encouraging reflection upon the city itself as a natural system.

Indeed, just as with the natural world, full awareness of Tree requires attention and consideration of its changing condition, rewarding the engaged viewer with new ways of perceiving our complex urban environs. The beauty of the project lies in that delicate unfolding of the experience: inhabitants of the city must slow down to fully appreciate what Tree has to offer.

Tree was first developed for the city of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Since then, it has been exhibited in London, Milan and Berlin, among many others. slowLab was honored to host Tree's first New York exhibition in February 2007 at the Westbeth Center for the Arts.

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