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Peter Handler

Wood

Peter Handler, Drunken Forest from the Canaries in the Coal Mine series (2016). Walnut, birch, anodized aluminum. Dimensions: 24” d x 50” l x 44” h. ©Handler Studio 2016. Courtesy of the artist. As temperatures rise, the frozen ground or “permafrost” underlying 85% of Alaska is thawing, destabilizing soils and causing trees to lean or fall. “Drunken” forests are not new to Alaska, but the current speed and scale of dislocation is new – and ominous. Handler’s imbalanced trees stand atop a woefully frail-legged platform. The discord invites us to ponder: Alaska’s forests, part of the planet’s “lungs,” absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as they photosynthesize. What will happen if large forest tracts disappear?

Peter Handler, Drunken Forest from the Canaries in the Coal Mine series (2016). Walnut, birch, anodized aluminum.  Dimensions: 24” d x 50” l x 44” h. ©Handler Studio 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

 

As temperatures rise, the frozen ground or “permafrost” underlying 85% of Alaska is thawing, destabilizing soils and causing trees to lean or fall. “Drunken” forests are not new to Alaska, but the current speed and scale of dislocation is new – and ominous.

Handler’s imbalanced trees stand atop a woefully frail-legged platform. The aesthetic discord invites us to ponder: Alaska’s forests, part of the planet’s “lungs,” absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as they photosynthesize. What will happen if large forest tracts disappear?

 

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All materials in this exhibition are copyrighted. ©Open Space Institute, Inc./Honoring the Future 2021. Please respect this copyright and that of the artists who generously contributed images to this exhibition.

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