dead oak tree comes back to life as sound sculptures

Sound sculptures Made from oak tree by steve parker

Dead oak tree returns to life as sound sculptures, musical instruments, and playable records by artist Steve Parker. On display in an exhibition named Funeral for a Tree, the project began when a 65-year-old live oak tree in the artist’s yard died from oak wilt, a disease that slowly kills trees. Instead of removing the tree and moving on, Steve Parker chose to listen to it by transforming the oak tree into sound sculptures, allowing the tree to perform its own memorial. At the heart of the exhibition are the wood cookies, which are round slices cut from the oak’s trunk.

The artist carefully turned them into playable records, similar to vinyl records, and each wooden record is engraved with recordings of migratory birdsong. These are sounds from bird species that once rested in the oak during different seasons of its life. When placed on a custom-made wooden turntable, the records spin and play, letting the tree remember the life it once supported.

all images courtesy of Ivester Contemporary and Steve Parker

Other instruments include medical breathing bags and brass

The records shown in the exhibition are made directly from the tree itself, and as the wood continues to dry over time, it naturally cracks and changes shape. This affects the sound quality, causing the music to fade, distort, or fill with static. The artist allows this to happen instead of fixing it, so in this way, the sound slowly disappears, just like memories change over time. Sound in the exhibition is also shaped by the sheng, a traditional Chinese mouth organ linked to ideas of rebirth and the phoenix. Sheng musician Jipo Yang performs the birdsongs, and throughout the gallery, sheng instruments appear in many forms. Some are played live, while others are connected to machines like ventilators and CPAP devices. These machines gently push air through the instruments, giving them breath.

Other sound sculptures fill the space as well, still made of recycled oak tree. One includes a live oak branch connected to a camshaft that slowly moves and brushes against a wind chime. Another features a large bass drum covered in wood shavings. When birdsong plays, the shavings gently shake, making the sound visible as well as audible. There are also abstract turntables fitted with horn speakers, turning sound into something you can feel in the room. There’s even a plant-like instrument made from salvaged brass, medical breathing bags, and sheng reeds. It looks part machine, part organism, and each performance rearranges and activates the sculptures in new ways. The exhibition Funeral for a Tree by artist Steve Parker was shown at the art gallery Ivester Contemporary between November 29th, 2025 and January 10th, 2026.

at the heart of the exhibition are the wood cookies, which are round slices cut from the oak’s trunk