AKE

INSPIRATION

This is an image of a “wishing tree” or a coin tree. People would hammer the coins into the trees hoping to heal themselves of sickness or to make a wish. For some reason, I find these fascinating. I just can’t figure out what I plan to do in response to this tradition. It is a living plant filled with inanimate objects that humans consider valuable. But it’s also a living growing tree filled with the hopes and dreams of hundreds of people from many years ago. It’s amazing that this collection of wishes can be so permanent, unlike a wishing well. I also find it interesting how each one of those coins was physically lodged into this plant by an individual person with specific hopes and dreams. I love the translation from intangible to tangible—wishes to a hammered, mangled coin. But also, the physical record or mark of the past. The intention, similar to a religious icon, is fascinating. And the fact that this beautiful object is created through collaboration, a collection of hundreds of personal thoughts translated into an installation work of art, creates a community of the hopers and dreamers.