Robert Hengeveld (Toronto)

SSSpun

A tree rises up through granite paver stones of a sidewalk in Old Quebec. The sight of small bits of wild vegetation sprouting up between the cracks of the hard urban landscape is not all that unfamiliar. Left unmaintained, weeds and vegetation are rather quick to appear. What makes this tree stand out from that common encounter is that this particular weed, a tree, stands four metres tall. It is odd enough to warrant a second glance. It is then that one realizes the tree is in fact rotating.

The choreographed pirouettes are periodically put to rest as the tree takes a stationary pause as if to hide amongst its more entrenched kin. SSSpun delicately weaves in and out of our familiar understanding of the world, leaving us with the challenge of rectifying the tension between perception and preconception.