dave rittinger: color pencil tree

‘color pencil tree’ by dave rittinger carved tree, pigment

artist and designer dave rittinger has developed a proposal for a public art installation in north philadelphia entitled ‘color pencil tree’. the arboreal sculpture morphs tree branches with the body of the colored drawing tools. the concept is dictated by the usage of existing trees to be re-purposed into a work of art for a city park, in which many trees were slated for removal for a reserve redesign. rittinger experimented with manipulating the limbs into different wooden objects of a similar shape like a baseball bat or toothpick but the vibrant shades of the pencils were the successful conclusion.

rittinger says of the piece:

‘my work is often playful, colorful and incorporates a sort of metaphorical blending of objects and function, so the fact that pencils are made of trees just made perfect sense. I really liked the idea of morphing the raw material into an embodiment of a manufactured product at this exaggerated scale.’

a maquette to articulate the idea for the public art installation maquette size: 11"x20"x12"

the artist experimented with various wooden objects to morph with the branches before deciding upon the pencil

the concept is representative of the artist’s playful, colorful aesthetic