Fruits of the Forest

“What the people of the city do not realise…is that the roots of all living things are tied together. When a mighty tree is felled, a star falls from sky…” Lacandon Mayans (Perera & Bruce, The Last Lords of Palenque: The Lacandon Mayas of the Mexican Rainforest, Boston, 1982, pg86)

The project encourages a reappraisal of humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The forest floor is adopted as a symbol of natural orientation; it is the plane from which all life pushes forward as it begins and to which it returns at its close. Our technicity has often led us to view our surroundings only as a resource and conceals from us our forest roots. When we view ourselves against the forest floor backdrop, our vulnerability becomes palpable once more.

The project signposts a new identity for our species within the natural world. Employing familiar visual language, viewers are invited to behold themselves (and each other) in the forest floor context and to see that, in truth, we are all fruits of the forest.

The work is carried through signs. The main image is of a forest floor streaked by sunlight. The lower portion is perforated with human head openings. The upper image is of blue sky, the crescent of the moon visible top right. The structure and reverse of the work are also sky blue.

The concept is presented in two scales; that of general urban signage and that of the autoroute sign. The use of adjusted standard signage components permits the realisation of the works from recycled technology.