Elevazione 2011

Giuseppe Penone made "Elevazione," with trees and metal props, sometime after 1947. I look at this strange upside-down tree, held aloft by those metal stilts. It must have been quite the thing, right, to see it uprooted like that, roots exposed, reaching out like arms. I wonder, was Penone thinking about how we often only see a tree from the trunk up, missing the whole other world happening beneath the surface? It’s like he's trying to show us another way of seeing, turning things on their head, literally. It makes me think about all the unseen connections, the hidden networks that keep everything alive and growing, a sentiment that Penone, as an Arte Povera artist, explored throughout his practice. Artists are always in conversation, you know, responding to what came before, pushing boundaries, and inviting us to see the world anew. "Elevazione" is an invitation to ponder the hidden dimensions of life, urging us to elevate our perceptions and embrace the unexpected.