Steve Parker: “Funeral for a Tree”

After 65 years of harboring migratory birds and whistling in the choir of breezes, a live oak performs a requiem of sorts thanks to the handiwork of auditory sculptural artist Steve Parker. The wide trunk of the tree has been sliced into playable records, its hard-earned rings now worn grooves carrying the birdsongs that graced its branches. Adding to the memorial dirge, wind chimes, wood shavings, salvaged brass, medical equipment, and sheng reeds – parts of a Chinese mouth organ that features throughout the exhibit – harmonize to explore Parker’s grief for the tree and its echoing the loss of his father. – Caroline Drew