Sculptures: John Grade Studio
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Year: 2015
Timber Concept: Creative Timber Applications
Photo by John Grade Studio
Middle Fork is a casted sculpture from a salvaged Western Red Cedar tree from the forests of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, as well as structural parts of a previous 80-year-old bridge. The John Grade Studio team acted as guides for over 4000 people participants as each person created portions of the sculpture. Volunteers were asked to follow the shape of the cast given to them but they were allowed the freedom to scale, shade and shape each block.
Each time the sculpture was displayed, the size of the sculpture reached the length of the venue. At the Smithsonian in 2015, it measured 50 feet long. While being displayed at the Davos World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland in 2017, participants were allowed the opportunity to continue the expansion of the sculpture. In 2018, when it was installed in the entrance hall at the Seattle Art Museum, it was already 100ft sculpture. It is John Grades’s hope that it will one day reach the length of 140 feet, matching the size of the original tree.
Watch video of the sculptures process: Video
See John Grade Studio’s website for more information: Website