7,000 Oaks

The Real Life 7,000 Oaks project was undertaken by German Artist Joseph Beuys in 1982. His goal was to plant 7,000 trees (5 varieties of trees were used in spite of the project's title) each paired with a basalt column in an effort to raise ecological awareness. His project took five years to complete.

Begun on March 16th of this year, the Second Life 7,000 Oaks project is a virtual recreation of Beuys' historic project.

Pairs of trees and stones dot Cosmos Island.

Pei Twang and Pei May (real life artists Eva and Franco Mattes) have placed 7,000 one-prim basalt stones on their island along with several oak trees. Residents are encouraged to participate by requesting a stone and oak tree pair to plant on their own land. As the stones are claimed, the pile of prims on the island will diminish to illustrate the status of the effort.

The number of columns is rather awe inspiring.

Judging by the 4643 objects currently on the parcel (I checked) the Second Life project will probably not take the 5 years of the original to complete. Many of the one prim columns have already been claimed. Each of the oak trees is 10 prims and the building is 12.

To collect your stone and oak tree, simply IM Pei Twang or Pei May with a request.

For more information about this and other projects in the "Synthetic Performances" series, please visit www.0100101110101101.org.

7,000 Oaks, Cosmos Island, (193, 118, 24)

My thanks to Osprey Therian for mentioning the project on her blog.