Label TextTucked amongst living trees in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Rondinone’s air gets into everything even nothing, is a cast of a 2,000-year-old olive tree in the Basilicata region between Calabria and Puglia in southern Italy. The form is reminiscent of a Chinese Gongshi, or a scholar’s rock, at which a visitor might contemplate the natural and philosophical realms. The form of the tree was cast quickly at the site of its growth using polyester and plaster. It was then cast in aluminum and painted in with white enamel at a foundry in Naples. This startling object presents itself as a natural form while actually being entirely artificial. Originating in an ancient landscape that evokes the passage of time, this ghost-like sculpture alludes to deep cultural roots in Italy and the Mediterranean world, a cradle of Western thought.
Published References"John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park", Lea Rosson DeLong, ed., Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1923, p. 116, 118-119, detail p. 134
Published References"John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park", Lea Rosson DeLong, ed., Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1923, p. 116, 118-119, detail p. 134
DimensionsOverall: 155 7/8 × 157 1/2 × 118 1/8 in., 1100 lb. (395.9 × 400.1 × 300 cm, 499 kg.)
Accession Number 2015.18
Classificationssculpture
Edition2/3, 1 AP
Provenance(Matthew Marks Gallery); John and Mary Pappajohn [purchased from previous, 2008]; Des Moines Art Center [gift from previous, 2015]
Images (1)
Audio (2)
