Tied to the ancient Asian culture of mortality, mindfulness and living in the present, Japanese cherry blossoms are a timeless metaphor for human existence. Blooming season is powerful, glorious and intoxicating, but tragically short-lived, blossoms usually living just a few hours, a visual reminder that our lives, too, are fleeting.
Cherish is crafted from steel power poles damaged beyond use with reclaimed industrial fossil-fuel use found at scrap metal yards. When covered in a mosaic of mirrored glass tile in the pattern of tree bark, the mirrors reflect the surrounding environment like a chameleon and allow the piece to change with the environment, day or night. The durability of this piece cannot be overstated. It has spent months in all-weather conditions and nothing has been able to damage it.
Cherish weighs in at over 12 tons and stretches 72 feet into the air. It can be installed as one extremely massive tree or separated into three (3) smaller installations. The entire surface of the branches are covered with a mosaic of mirror and glass tile. Each flower petal is eight feet (8’) in diameter, made of a translucent poly-carbonate glass and acts as a movie screen for the projectors. There are fifteen (15) flower blossoms in total, with a 4000-lumen projection system that displays custom animation and media arts onto the flower petals. Each flower is mapped with custom media displayed on the inside surface. The translucent petals allow the media to pass through to the outside surface making it seem three dimensional (3D). Cherish also has the option to program sponsorship logos on the flower petals or to allow participants to project images onto the flowers via their mobile devices. The foundation is fabricated with 10”x24” wide flange beam and acts as a great seating area above grade, or buried below grade.