The Poetic of Egress
"In 1971 when Apollo 14 left the Earth for the third moon landing, it carried with it about 500 seeds from different tree species including pine, sycamore and redwood. The intention was to see how the seeds would be affected by space travel. Upon their return to the Earth, the seeds were planted and grown under the supervision of research stations equipped for plant propagation. During the first few years the moon tree seedlings garnered much attention. Most were planted near historical and political landmarks in the United States, some were gifted at the occasion of the bicentennial celebrations to ally countries such as Japan, France and Brazil. However, once it was established by researchers that moon trees had no “detectable” difference from ordinary trees grown on Earth, the public interest slowly faded and for decades, no records were kept as to the whereabouts or future becomings of the Moon trees. Approximately three decades would pass before human curiosity would take hold of the mythical trees once again, looking back from the dawn of our so-called new space age. Today, 67 Moon trees are accounted for, all of which are still alive and have been the source of new generations of trees, called “Half Moon Trees” 2 . From this account, let us keep the idea of “detectable difference”.
Deniz Uster’s installation titled “The Poetics of Egress” holds fragments from the leaf of a Moon Sycamore whose seed was carried into outer space with the original Apollo 14 mission in 1971 3 . A real-size sculpture of a recoiling human hand holds in its palm multiple miniature leaves sculpted from the original. A scaled-down miniature astronaut figurine sits atop its index finger, enjoying the view provided by the mossy geological formation emerging from what would have been the indented wrist, at the peak of this fantastical formation stands the most ordinary of birds, a pigeon. This vertical articulation of heterogeneous bodies birthing one another is accompanied by a horizontally laid structure one could mistake for a found tree branch, which is, in fact, entirely sculpted using some of Uster’s favorite blend of fine arts and construction materials such as aluminum, resin putty and acrylic paint. Everything that looks “natural” in this scene, is in fact the product of some kind of artifice, pushed to the extremes of mimesis. If we move away and scale up to include the plinth, the imitation of nature finds its apex in the art deco furniture that seems to be generating this still life rendering."
Excerpt from the exhibition text by Asli Seven
Deniz Uster’s installation titled “The Poetics of Egress” holds fragments from the leaf of a Moon Sycamore whose seed was carried into outer space with the original Apollo 14 mission in 1971 3 . A real-size sculpture of a recoiling human hand holds in its palm multiple miniature leaves sculpted from the original. A scaled-down miniature astronaut figurine sits atop its index finger, enjoying the view provided by the mossy geological formation emerging from what would have been the indented wrist, at the peak of this fantastical formation stands the most ordinary of birds, a pigeon. This vertical articulation of heterogeneous bodies birthing one another is accompanied by a horizontally laid structure one could mistake for a found tree branch, which is, in fact, entirely sculpted using some of Uster’s favorite blend of fine arts and construction materials such as aluminum, resin putty and acrylic paint. Everything that looks “natural” in this scene, is in fact the product of some kind of artifice, pushed to the extremes of mimesis. If we move away and scale up to include the plinth, the imitation of nature finds its apex in the art deco furniture that seems to be generating this still life rendering."
Excerpt from the exhibition text by Asli Seven
The Poetics of Egress, 2023. 40x78x40cm, fallen leaves from a Moon Sycamore, aluminium, velvet fibres, resin putty, acrylic paint, modelling water.
TERRA NULLIUS: Harvesting Gravity at .artSümer Gallery
Moon trees were grown from seeds that were orbited with the Moon during Apollo 14 lunar mission in 1971. The miniature leaves featured in this piece was sculpted from the leaves of a "Moon Sycamore" which were kindly donated by the Keystone Heights Library in Florida, whose grounds host one of these unique trees.
TERRA NULLIUS: Harvesting Gravity at .artSümer Gallery
Moon trees were grown from seeds that were orbited with the Moon during Apollo 14 lunar mission in 1971. The miniature leaves featured in this piece was sculpted from the leaves of a "Moon Sycamore" which were kindly donated by the Keystone Heights Library in Florida, whose grounds host one of these unique trees.
Photo credit no:4 and no:5: Nazli Erdemirel