Human+Nature at the Morton Arboretum

Last Monday (August 9) we visited the Morton Arboretum to view their new outside art exhibit, Human+Nature. The five large sculptures by South African artist Daniel Popper explore the connection between people and nature, especially trees.

The most visible of the pieces is "Hallow". It's near the Visitor Center and lake and is easily viewed from accessible Meadow Lake Trail. The sculptures look like wood, but are made from fiberglass, concrete, and occasionally metal, over a steel frame. A short video on their construction can be seen here.

The scale of the sculpture is more apparent when people are in the picture!

There are two more pieces on the West Side.

"Umi" is derived from an Arabic word for "mother".

While you are not allowed to climb on the sculptures, you are encouraged to walk through them and touch them.

"Sentient" was my least favorite piece.

The West Side has two more sculptures.

As you look at the split face of "Heartwood",  the interior has cross-sections of the central portion of a tree (the "heartwood") on the right and fingerprints on the left.

Another view of Heartwood.

The final sculpture, "Basilica" is a pair of hands connected by roots or vines. While today the word basilica brings up images of churches of special significance, in Roman times, a basilica was a meeting place that was rectangular with one rounded end used for assemblies or courts of law. (Thank you, Google).

Basilica as seen from the side.

We also came across two other "sculptures" near the official Human+Nature ones.

We came across two "chairs" or "thrones" made from the stumps of removed large trees (sycamores?, oaks?). It was a challenge (especially for me) to get into the high seats.