VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

GROOMS TO DEDICATE BOTANICAL BRIDE. The Menil Collection presents Tree Dedication: The Art Guys Marry A Tree,  Saturday, November 19, 2011, 10:30 a.m.

This project began on June 13, 2009, when Houston’s Art Guys married a live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) in a public ceremony at the Cullen Sculpture Garden of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (as part of No Zoning, a group exhibition presented by Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston). The tree was planted in Menil Park on March 29, 2011.

The project concludes on November 19, 2011, when National Book Critics Circle winning writer (and Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities) Lawrence Weschler officiates, as presiding rabbi, at a dedication ceremony featuring The Art Guys and the tree.

At a time when the institution of marriage is at the center of civil-rights debates, the tree ceremony may inspire multiple readings and interpretations.

Said Toby Kamps, Menil curator of modern and contemporary art: “With this work, the Art Guys have used one of our only public commitment ceremonies to connect us with the natural world and cycles of life beyond our own.” 

Photo by Everett Taasevigen.