Simon created these decorations by nailing pieces of bark to wood.
From my Facebook post about this:
Simon nailed bark to pieces of scrap wood and set them around our house as decorations. When I look at one, I think it’s postmodern art making an ironic statement about our problematic relationship with nature in a capitalist society. Then I have to remind myself Simon is six and just likes to nail stuff together.
I can't stop obsessing over this. I mean, he pulls bark off a living tree and then nails it inside out to a tree that was killed and turned into lumber. Is it so the dead tree can feel alive again, to remember the safety of being encompassed by a protective layer of bark? The contrast between the beautiful, natural bark and the bland human-crafted board is stark and must be significant somehow. Is the artwork a reminder that this wood used to be a living tree, but it was killed for human consumption and is then discarded as scrap? Is re-purposing it as a decoration an honor or a mockery? Is it a warning that we're all mortal and death is inevitable? "Sure, you have all that nice bark now, but this is what awaits you...the lumber mill." What can it all mean???
