Eucalyptus Soliloquy

California is a land where everyone
seems to come from somewhere else.
In one sense we are all immigrants, and this elegant installation celebrates one of the most beautiful: the eucalyptus tree, here represented by Eucalyptus nicholii. The eucalyptus, which seems native even though it isn’t, was originally brought to California from Australia to provide the wood for railway ties. Too soft to succeed at this task, the exotic has become, instead, one of the most popular—and most detested—of California trees.
First, on the left as we enter, we see a row of young trees. Three walls, composed of double expanses of wire hold: 1) individual leaves of the eucalyptus carefully draped and pinned over the wire; 2) horizontal layers of eucalyptus bark held by the wire; and 3) eucalyptus branches stacked horizontally. The ground cover is composed of eucalyptus bark edged with eucalyptus seeds. We can view the walls as we sit in chairs made of eucalyptus wood, or take our places in two more chairs at the far end of the installation, these, too, made of eucalyptus wood. There we gaze over the pond to the fields beyond. To our right, a small house stands in a row of old eucalyptus trees that seem to touch the sky. The entire universe seems to have been pleasantly taken over by eucalyptus trees.

Meet The Designers

Hood is particularly concerned with making truly social landscapes, breaking down the divide between functionality and artistry.