A miniature redwood forest is coming to an unlikely place—the middle of Downtown Brooklyn—this fall. The Public Art Fund and Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) announced plans for an exhibition at MetroTech Commons that recreates a section of California’s Redwood National Park on a 1:100 scale. The project, created by Brooklyn artist Spencer Finch (whose iconic High Line work, The River That Flows Both Ways, was recently dismantled), will feature 4,000 Dawn redwoods that mimic the real-life 98- to 380-foot-tall trees, but on a much smaller scale—as in, they'll be one to four feet high.
For Finch’s exhibition, titled Lost Man Creek, he collaborated with Save the Redwoods League to get the topography and tree canopy scaled down for the section of the protected forest that he chose to replicate. The exhibition is designed to call attention to the natural phenomena, temporal elements, the different ways to interact with nature, and the importance of preserving such natural wonders.
According to the press release, "The miniature forest will flourish with the help of a specific planting and irrigation system, designed to provide the trees with an optimum living environment within this urban context." Visitors will be able to interact with the installation from the ground level as well as from a viewing platform, offering differing perspectives.
The installation will be on display from October 1, 2016 through May 13, 2018. Afterwards, the trees will be rehoused in a new environment.
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