arborsculpture: extreme trees planted and shaped by richard reames

extreme trees planted and shaped by arborsculptor richard reames ..................................................................................................................................

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my chair grew an inch this year!

extreme trees planted and shaped by arborsculptor richard reames
http://www.arborsmith.com

- february 2003 -

'using the medium of the living tree has shown me there is huge
untapped potential in how we interact with this unique life form.
if we can develop ways to grow trees into habitable structures
the ecological benefit's would be huge. already live trees for
fencing, outdoor furniture, and landscape interest trumps the
use of dead wood any day. I am continuing to experiment with
different species and discovering that each has it's own
nuance making it more or less suitable for different design's.
once begun,learning this art form is a lifetime project.'
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'I coined the word arborsculpture in 1995 because no single
word had been used to recognize this unique art form.
a branch of topiary with the potential to save the environment.
their are other words and terms that are used to describe this art.
pleaching, permaculture, tree trunk topiary, botanical art,
botanical architecture, biotechture, living art, visionary art,
and really weird.
the difference between my work and that of other topiary
artists is that I work with the inside of a tree, from the trunk
while most other topiaries are formed from the outside.
I love being outside all day, I like experimenting, and I feel
that I am perpetuating a remarkable art, one that might some
day flourish and produce the most environmentally sensitive
houses you could imagine.'
richard reames

richard reames trains trees into chairs, tables, even a house...
he loves the idea of creating living architecture planting trees
rather than cutting them down.
using tree saplings as his medium, reames merges man and
nature in a tree that has a peace sign growing from its center,
or one that sprouts in spirals toward the sun like strands of DNA,
and yet another with a water faucet protruding from its trunk.
reames works only with living trees, shaping them from the I
trunk and branches as they grow. he uses grafting to force
branches to grow together, securing the wound with ties until
it eventually merges.
experienced with alder, ash, sycamore, white birch, poplar,
japanese maple, cherry, apple, pear, locust, redwood, eucalyptus,
willow, oak and ponderosa pine, reames has quite a selection
of mediums. to finish these installations, reames must battle hail,
ice, root and stem rot, borer worms, aphids, and deer, who savor
the buds and bark of young deciduous trees.
customers can buy the living sculptures potted and take them home
for planting. or, they can commission reames to come to their home
to design and plant a project on-site.

reames recalled a childhood visit to 'the tree circus',
a roadside attraction in the santa cruz mountains of california
where the late axel erlandson (1884-1964) displayed his living
tree sculptures.

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see some of axel erlandson's creations

following in erlandson's footsteps richard reames combines
his naturally creative bent, some education in horticulture
and a desire to do something that made sense spiritually
and environmentally.

'erlandson kept it all a secret. when people asked him how
he trained trees, he said he talked to them...
unlike erlandson, I don't keep the process of arborsculpture
a secret. you can practice the art yourself with my book,
'how to grow a chair'. the book covers most of the techniques
used in the field, with some good pictorial displays of my works
and those by erlandson: how to grow and select trees,
grafting, bending, framing and multiple planting.'

richard reames lectures with his slide show and leads
workshops, he also writes a free e-mail based newsletter
with a focus on trees. he is planting a whole village
of living tree houses with living furniture in japan:
'laughing happy tree park' -
the arborsmith studios together with john gathright,
and in partnership with the local people of jyokoji,
reames has created a park with living chairs, bridges,
homes, entrance arches, mazes, tunnels, symbols,
letters, fences and ladders.

the use of living greenery is an antidote to the failures
and excesses of the artificial built environment.
the idea of living architecture has been explored to
some extent in fantasy and science fiction, inspired by
arthur wiechula (1868 - 1941), german landscape engineer.

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