Back in October of 1997, Devin and I packed all of our belongings into a half-sized diesel moving
van and towed his car behind us out highway 80 on our way to San Francisco.
I'm not telling you this as a lead in to some pithy bit of nostalgia or because the anniversary
of our move is coming up or anything. I'm telling you this because on the way there, in the
middle of the salt flats of Utah, we saw the creepiest thing on earth, and up until today I had
no idea what it was.
In the middle of the salt flats, which stretch out on either side of Highway 80 for miles and
miles, is a sculpture. It's
apparently entitled "Metaphor: The Tree of Life" but it's been affectionately nicknamed
"Metaphor: The Tree of Utah". It's art that would look normal if it were 1/4 the size it actually
is, and situated somewhere on a college campus, but it's 87 feet high and in the middle of
nowhere, and surrounded by NOTHING for at least 50 miles on either side, which makes it nearly
unbearably creepy.
You can see the thing for 30 miles, approaching it from any direction. The state of Utah doesn't
want you stopping to take pictures of it, or even to see what it is. The highway there is
littered with "EMERGENCY PARKING ONLY" signs, which, as we were driving past, made me think it
was less a piece of art and more some kind of communications device. I remember actually leaning
closer to Devin to get as far away from the thing as possible as we passed it, and then looking
back a lot for the next 30 miles to make sure it hadn't followed me. It gave me the heebie
jeebies, and I was extremely relieved to be past the damn thing.
Even today, just looking at the picture of it, I got that same creepy feeling. I've been trying
to think of why. Is it because art with no context seems strange to me? Or is it some property of
the 87-foot concrete statue itself that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up?
My problem with this installation is that it evokes nothing -- and it was obviously intended to,
being the only thing for 50 miles in every direction smack in the middle of the salt flats. It's
supposed to be something Important, you know? And I look at it and think, bah. Failing to be
moved by such a forceful statement is a shortcoming of mine as an audience, surely, but --
painted tennis balls stuck to a hat tree in the the middle of nowhere? Um. I'm just not feelin'
it.
Well, I think that Karl Momen might disagree with you there. He obviously thought that painted
CONCRETE tennisballs stuck to a hat tree in the middle of nowhere was significant of...SOMETHING.
Significant of CREEPING ME THE FUCK OUT, probably, since you know that the whole world revolves
around me.
Concrete?! Wow. I've figured it out, then -- Karl Momen is actually Wil E. Coyote, waiting for
Roadrunner to come by so he can drop the tennis balls on him. "Tree of Utah" is simply yet
another fine Acme, Inc., product!
I just came accross this page because I actually like "Metaphor: The Tree of Life." Its really
fun, it really adds to the vibe out there on the salt flats. I mean if you have ever taken the
drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Wendover, NV for any reason other then to gamble or pass through
on your way to somewhere else it can be a lot of fun. There is a lot of cool shit out there in
the desert. I 80 is cool enough cutting through the south end of the Great Salt Lake, then right
throught a military testing area and then bam you see the tree of life, and you are at the salt
flats, which have this really great energy. You really have to get out of your car while you're
there to appreciate the surroundings. I always thought that part of the creepyness of the whole
thing is the messages that are written on the side of the road leading up to getting to the tree.
I don't know, I don't even know if you care, I don't really care if you do. But I just thought
I'd take the time to post something to some people I don't know, for no reason other then I'm at
home and I can no longer drive out towards the desert as easily as I once could and I wanted to
see what other people thought of one of the significant places in my life.
I must agree there's some pretty weird things written on the side of the road out there. I couldn't imagine driving all the way out in the desert just to line up some rocks into a message on the side of the road. The Tree itself... well it creeps me out too but I think that's exactly why I like it. There's a lot of other weird shit out there too like the Sun Tunnels (out by Lucin).
Posted by: Jerry on November 16, 2003 05:54 AMI live in Ohio and have only seen the "Tree" in pictures, but I want to see it in person. Something about it calls to me and evokes strange paranormal feelings deep inside me. It being the only thing around for miles and of such mammoth size will probably creep me out as well, but a creepiness that I welcome. I am afraid of larger than life things, but still I feel the need to visit this place. I have a feeling something is going to happen there to me!!!
Posted by: Douglas Beltz on May 3, 2004 07:57 PM