Wat je zaait, zul je oogsten
‘Wat je zaait, zul je oogsten’ [‘You reap what you sow’] is a mixed-media installation portraying the fictional character of a tree that grows in the presence of observers and shrinks when left alone.
Opposite a cyanotype print, two screens display video feeds of the space with the image of a small, naked tree trunk inhabiting the installation virtually in augmented reality. When an audience is before the screen, the tree senses their presence and gradually starts to grow. Eventually, it gains leaves and takes over most of the image. As the audience moves away, the tree slowly wilts and shrinks back to its original size.
The tree’s growth process is slow to allow the audience to experience a non-human time scale, with small, almost imperceptible changes to the tree as it develops. Visitors to the installation are asked to take responsibility and keep the tree alive by giving it their time and attention. The work hereby explores the complex tensions that arise when these shared responsibilities require a personal investment, which may be rendered insignificant by the choices other people make.
A spoken word piece accompanies the work, telling the story of a family that plants a tree on their farm, and how the tree watches them grow apart and brings them together again under its shade.
