Cherry Tree Project
Description:
In spring 1987, visual artist Deborah Koenker and architect Roberto Pacheco collaborated on The Cherry Tree Project, a site-specific installation at 155 E 24th Avenue. Referencing the Japanese ritual of cherry blossom viewing, the sculpture featured an elevated viewing platform that bridged three neighbouring private gardens surrounding a large cherry tree. Subverting private property boundaries, the work engaged the immediate neighbours, and was open to the public every weekend from March 29 to April 12 as the tree bloomed and morphed.
Following the tree’s bloom, documentation of the project was presented in an exhibition at Western Front, on view from May 13 to 29. Photographs of the site, construction drawings, and fragments from the actual boardwalk were presented alongside large-scale drawings of a cherry tree by Gary Geraths.
Captions:
- The Cherry Tree Project, installation view, May 13 – 20, 1987, Photo by Reece Metcalfe.
- The Cherry Tree Project, installation view, May 13 – 20, 1987, Photo by Reece Metcalfe.
Back to:
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.