Access a slow-looking exercise related to this work.

Transcript
Marilee Talkington: Four tree branches are suspended horizontally from the ceiling in this gallery to create Lee Seung-taek's installation "Paper Tree", dated to the 1970s. They vary in length from around 3 to 4 feet long and several inches thick in diameter. They arch and curve organically across the space, arranged asymmetrically, with the full length of the installation extending 18 feet. Each of the four branches has shorter, thinner branchlets extending several feet upward. Smaller twigs extend from these branchlets, only several inches long.

The bare branches divide and extend outward and upward—organic forms in stark contrast to the bottom half of the installation. Hanging off the branches, Lee hung "hanji", traditional handmade paper from Korea created from the inner bark of the mulberry tree. The loose-textured paper hangs in long thin strips along the length of the branches, the strips identical in size, all about 3 1/2 long. Its creamy color is distinct from the dark wood of the branches.

Lee's installation visualizes the tree’s transformation from natural form to processed material. The organic extension of the frozen branches and twigs contrasts dramatically with the downward symmetry and potential for movement in the loose-flowing paper.

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