Giuseppe Penone – Transcription musicale de la structure des arbres

A member of Arte Povera, Giuseppe Penone has been creating very special artworks since the late sixties, showing man in interaction with nature, involving vegetation,modifying its growth, carving out tree trunks to reveal their inner structure, growth curves and plastic richness. More recently, he has deliberately directed his work toward the question of man’s position regarding classical history, or his place in an increasingly artificial environment.

This entirely new publication displays his first engravings. Following some work completed in Ardèche in 2011, the artist came upwith the idea of striking the trunk of fourteen varieties of treeswith amallet, registering the quality of the vibration from the wood itself, its resonance in away. Then a long experimental phase of analysis in a recording studio turned this rawsoundmatter into fourteen musical scores.

Following this, Giuseppe Penone selected seven tree species so as to give a plastic transcription of his experience in the formof seven engravings (65 x 50 cm). Each engraving is aimed at giving a physical equivalent of that sound wave, forcing the artist to play with the very terms of representation. This very specific work was created directly onto copper plate, without any possible repentance or regret. It was especially crucial for Penone to let his memories directly lead his hand.

“A Musical Transcription of Tree Structure” appears in two forms: in the first instance, a regular edition (800 copies) showing the scores and reprinted engravings; and secondly, the first limited edition, supplemented by the original prints of the seven engravings, each having been numbered and signed by the artist. For this exceptional collaboration, Giuseppe Penone decided to limit the printing to twenty-five editions for sale, giving this work a precious and rare quality.

It was achieved in collaboration with Le Néant Éditeur.