leaves scatter around island tree nest for third season of art series by UMA + antti laitinen

art series ‘One Tree Four Seasons’ INTRODUCES season III

Following the first and second part of their ‘One Tree Four Seasons’ series, Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Finnish artist Antti Laitinen share ‘Season III’ of their collaborative work. As mentioned in designboom’s previous coverage of the project, the duo is working on a specific tree to create four different versions of the art installation, one for each season, using the available material found in nature. The natural materials harvested can only be found at certain periods over the year, making the artworks a direct reflection of that particular time. 

all images courtesy of Ulf Mejergren and Antti Laitinen

Man-made and natural storm forces invoke Leaves’ dance

Similarly, the tree’s different seasonal appearances play a big part in each project. The chosen tree is an alder tree standing solitary on a field south of Stockholm, Sweden. Growing on a small hill of overgrown rocks the natural formation is a result of older farm practices in which fields were cleared from obstacles and put in one place, like small on-land islands.

For Season III, which started in late October of 2022, the artists UMA + Antti Laitinen collected leaves that had just fallen from the tree and the surrounding forest and placed them in the structure. Using an artificial wind generator the duo constrained the leaves’ movement upwards and around the structure until they fell again. A large portion of the leaves flew through the structure’s circular hole when the natural wind force and the man-made storm were joined.

leaves laid out after the storm

four highlights of the wind storm

side view of the leaf mount in front of the nest

‘entrance’ to the circular nest after the storm

the nest and scattered leaves from inside

the tree and its island in the surrounding field

the tree seen from the forest where most of the leaves were taken from

project info:

name: One Tree Four Seasons – Season III

location: Stockholm, Sweden

artwork series by: Ulf Mejergren + Antti Laitinen

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom