Title: Log II - 1999-2004 No Longer on site


Artist: Robert Wiens   Exhibition year: 1999

...."Nestled in a forest clearing, Robert Wiens' installation Log II reads initially as a fallen tree, its shape and size mirroring those flanking it in this grove. Closer examination reveals a composite structure. Single branches gathered from the immediate site are trimmed and tightly intertwined. Bundled together, the branches create the illusion of a solid trunk. Different trees and different woods are used, yet the colour is uniform. The surface texture, which mimics bark, is produced from the action of weaving the twigs. Rather than an accumulation of rings enumerating its age, the exposed ends of the 'log' reflect various diameters. Figure and ground are close, yet the artwork maintains an internal coherence as a sculptural piece; at the time of completion, the boundary between the work as a positive form and the forest floor is respected. "Wiens' 'log' quotes nature but isn't natural. Through the recontextualization of an iconic image, he potentiates the idea of a 'living' culture wherein the raw materials of nature are transformed into the order of culture, to be reabsorbed again by nature as the cycle completes itself. A symbol of wholeness, the tree is indicative of the movement from unity to diversity, returning to unity. Here, the 'whole' is crafted. Self-supporting, its internal framework contains no wire, twine or glue. The 'tree' is resurrected solely from its constituent elements. The differentiation of manifestation is retained, a concrete figuration of the intricate relationship of parts to the whole. Horizontal rather than vertical in presentation, its orientation denies the tree's symbolic function as an imagio or axis mundi and a dynamic life force. As a critical instrument, however, it speaks to the disintegration of the forest while participating in its continuance through its own eventual reintegration with the environment." 
Carolyn Bell Farrell "Axis of Time,", The Tree Museum, (The Tree Museum, 2000)

Robert Wiens was born in Leamington, Ontario in 1953. Since 1978, his work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada, as well as in Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Bologna. Wiens' work has been represented in a number of prominent group exhibitions, including: Monumenta (1982), YYZ, Toronto; The New City of Sculpture (1984), Mercer Union, YYZ, Toronto, Perspective 85, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Songs of Experience (1986), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Toronto. Robert Wiens lives and works in Picton, Ontario. He is represented by the Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto.