LOS ANGELES — Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time, and Technology at the Skirball Cultural Center is a mind-bending installation and learning library by the Bay Area artist duo Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg. Presented in conjunction with the Getty’s PST ART initiative, Art & Science Collide, the exhibition pays homage to the ongoing human quest for knowledge by documenting its evolution through a series of timelines inscribed over the rings of fallen tree fragments, culled from salvage yards, using the age-old technique of pyrography (wood burning). These timelines address the histories of such topics as knowledge itself, California trees, science, and Judaism.
At the core of installation stands “Tree of Knowledge,” a sculpture crafted from a tree that is rugged on one side in the manner of an Ursula von Rydingsvard artwork. On the other side, a smoother surface is etched with 160 questions organized into six categories (mind, humanities, society, sciences, beliefs, and philosophy). They begin at the center with simple queries that early Homo sapiens might have asked, such as “Why do I exist?” and “Can we create fire?” As they spread outward, the questions become more complex and relevant — for instance, “How will we live in a changing climate?”
The wall sculpture “If We Lose Ourselves” recounts the various ways knowledge has been presented and stored through the ages. Following the shape of the tree rings, the chronology starts with the invention of writing and culminates with the introduction of ChatGPT. Fascinating tidbits along the way include the dates of the first algebra book, the founding of the Library of Congress, and Nazi book burnings.
One of the most intriguing tree sculptures is “Abstract Expression,” which documents the evolution of equations from Pythagoras to ChatGPT. Because the pattern of nicks in the wood at the center reminded the artists of a question mark and the spiral from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” ideal proportions diagram, they left this area unarticulated. “DendroJudaelology: A Timeline of the Jewish People” includes the usual citations, such as the story of Moses and the Holocaust, but also lists pop culture events like Marilyn Monroe’s conversion to Judaism and the box office record of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Taking their documentation into the present, Shlain and Goldberg created a video homage to Ed Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip.” The imagery, created by feeding images from Google Maps and Google Earth into AI, maps the trees along four major LA thoroughfares. A participatory project related to this invites visitors to create a tree tribute by taking a tape measure home to measure a favorite tree, and then photograph it up close and from afar. The tree’s zip code, data, and photos are then submitted to a website and AI will determine the tree’s age, write a brief description of its location and history, and create a pristine idealized image of it, all of which can be viewed in an online gallery. Using the latest technology, the artists cleverly extend the Jewish custom of honoring loved ones by planting trees to celebrating trees themselves within the virtual landscape of the World Wide Web.
Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time, and Technology continues at the Skirball Cultural Center (2701 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Bel Air, Los Angeles) through March 2, 2025. The exhibition was co-curated by Associate Curator Vicki Phung Smith and Guest Curator Selma Holo.
