Witness Trees - What The Trees Have Seen

Artist Statement: The theme for the “Witness Trees” at Bergen Place Park is inspired by the site’s rich history.  History is fluid like water – always changing, moving and shifting upon each telling.  The telling carves, reveals, and brings forward a strata of individual and collected stories. 

“Witness” or “bearing” trees were used as reference points for the first U.S. land surveys in 1851. The five cedar posts that previously held up an awning in the original park plan, suggest a vast primordial forest.  The artwork symbolically turns the posts back into trees through the installation of five tree sculptures.  These trees (Fossil Tree, First Tree, Clam Tree, Immigrant Tree, and New Growth Tree) become storytellers, each revealing a layer of the site’s history:

 

The branch of science that studies the beginning of life forms is called paleontology.  “Fossil Tree” reflects the rich marine life in Shilshole Bay through the incorporation of cast concrete “fossils.”

“First Tree” was derived from what scientists believe the first tree looked like 420 million years ago and was inspired by the intricate paper cut-outs of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. 

“Clam Tree” takes its shape from Coast Salish clam baskets and refers to the giant mountains of clam shells that were discovered when the Chittenden Locks were dredged.  These middens were the remains of clams that had been discarded over the centuries by the Lake People who were one of several bands which formed the Duwamish tribes.  Viewed from below, the shells seen against a steel grid refer to fishing nets and recall Ballard’s vibrant fishing industry.

“Immigrant Tree” was initially inspired by the mythological Nordic world or cosmic tree, Yggdrasil and takes its shape from topiary trees commonly found in Ballard’s neighborhoods.  The blue and white “cloud” palette is based on blue and white  porcelain.  Through maritime trade, blue and white porcelain made its way into many cultures and found an enduring legacy in the distinctive Danish patterns of Royal Copenhagen.  Traditional embroidery of Telemark, Norway inspired “Immigrant Tree’s” flower motif.

“New Growth Tree” is a hybrid of past and present and symbolizes the moment in which Bergen Park Place takes on a new life.  The trunk of “New Growth Tree” is a Norwegian Maple first planted at the inception of Bergen Place Park in 1975.

Watch: Seattle Channel Profile of Artist Jen Dixon (2008)

Location: Bergen Place Park, 5420 22nd Avenue Northwest