One autumn day, a small squirrel family came across a very special tree. This tree stood twice as tall as the others in the neighborhood, with bark unusually smooth and needles unusually green. Its towering stature reminded Mrs. Squirrel of the old-growth forests of her youth–a perfect picture of sylvan splendor. She moved her family in promptly.
The squirrels found their new home to be quite convenient. While other trees sagged and severed in winter storms, theirs stood tall and unmoving. When they would leave their nuts in the hollows of the tree, they would return to find them heated, sizzling even. Plus, the cell reception was excellent.
One afternoon, an old owl approached the family forebodingly. He warned that their tree might not be what it seems. He said it came to be in an unusual way: brought in five pieces on huge semi trucks, and assembled with a crane. The tree, which should’ve taken 100 years to grow, manifested in a matter of weeks with the flock of machines and men. He warned the squirrel family that their tree could be demonic.
“I'm sick of his conspiracies!” proclaimed Baby Squirrel.
‘Perhaps our tree is a little odd,’ the squirrels admitted to themselves. ‘It does hum strangely from time-to-time. But no tree is perfect,’ Besides, the squirrels found the white noise to be soothing; it reminded Mrs. Squirrel of the wind blowing through the pines in the forests of her youth. ‘It can’t be demonic,’ the squirrels affirmed to each other.
The owl was a kook, he could never know in any meaningful way the delight of living in their tree. He had never experienced the seductively predictable placement of the branches that allowed one to leap from bough to bough in a trance-like rhythm. He had never been soothed by the cool touch of the trunk on his paws after a long day, or cradled in the buzzing warmth of its hollows at night. The squirrels brushed the old owl off. After all, this was their beloved home.
Songs of a Decoy is an exhibition featuring the furniture of five designers navigating the interstices of reality and unreality in contemporary western culture. Through surrealism and temporal collage, the work invites reflection on the histories and mythologies emanating from the objects that surround us.