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Hinoki

A life-size sculpture of a fallen tree made of lightly hued cypress wood. The carving is laid on the ground, and takes up almost the entire space of the room.
© 2007 Charles Ray. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles.

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  • A life-size sculpture of a fallen tree made of lightly hued cypress wood. The carving is laid on the ground, and takes up almost the entire space of the room.

Date:

2007

Artist:

Charles Ray
American, born 1953

About this artwork

“Ten years ago, while driving up the central coast of California, I spotted a fallen tree in a meadow just off the highway. I was instantly drawn to it. It was not only a beautiful log, but to my eyes, it was perfectly embedded in the meadow where it had fallen decades earlier. Pressure from the weather, insects, ultraviolet radiation, and gravity were evident. Total collapse appeared to be no more than a handful of years away. I was inspired to make a sculpture and studied many other logs, but I realized that I was only interested in this particular one.

At one point, I determined that its armature could be its pneuma, the Greek word for breath, wind, or life. Later, I considered making an inflatable sculpture but realized that the tailoring of the form would bring an unwanted complexity to the surface. It then struck me that the breath or life of the sculpture could be manifested in the very act of sculpting. Making a wood carving of the log by starting from the inside and working my way out would bring a trajectory of life and intentionality to this great fallen tree. With several friends, I transported the tree, cut apart by a chainsaw, back to my Los Angeles studio. Silicone molds were taken and a fiberglass version of the log was reconstructed. This was sent to Osaka, Japan, where master woodworker Yuboku Mukoyoshi and his apprentices carved my vision into reality using Japanese cypress (hinoki). I was drawn to the woodworkers because of their tradition of copying work that is beyond restoration. In Japan, when an old temple or Buddha can no longer be maintained, it is remade. I visited Japan often and had a difficult time bringing this work to completion and allowing it to go out into the world. When I asked Mr. Mukoyoshi about the wood and how it would behave over time, he told me that the wood would be fine for 400 years and then it would go into a crisis; after two hundred years of splitting and cracking, it would go into slow decline for another 400 years. I realized then that the wood, like the original log, had a life of its own, and I was finally able to let my project go and hopefully breathe life into the world that surrounds it.”

— Charles Ray

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Charles Ray

Title

Hinoki

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1997–2007

Medium

Cypress

Dimensions

Three elements: 172.7 × 762 × 233.7 cm (68 × 300 × 92 in.); 63.5 × 426.7 × 208.3 cm (25 × 168 × 82 in.); and appro×. 60.5 × 400 × 200 cm (25 × 150 × 78 in.)

Credit Line

Through prior gifts of Mary and Leigh Block, Mr. and Mrs. Joel Starrels, Mrs. Gilbert W. Chapman, and Mr. and Mrs. Roy J. Friedman; purchased with funds provided by Donna and Howard Stone

Reference Number

2007.771a-e

Copyright

© 2007 Charles Ray. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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