"Old Tree" by Pamela Rosenkranz

With its roots planted upon the High Line Plinth and standing twenty-five feet tall at the Spur on 10th Avenue and West 30th Street, Swiss artist Pamela Rosenkranz has cultivated a beaming reddish pink hued tree at the elevated New York City Park. “Old Tree” prompts us to consider the interrelation between human and plant life as its color and shape “resembles the branching systems of human organs, blood vessels, and tissue.” Known for her juxtaposition of what is natural and what is human Ms. Rosenkranz’ “Old Tree” is rooted in such a way “as if the tree would like to leave its planter”, in a quest to escape the urban jungle it will call home for the next eighteen months.

“Making Sense” by Ai Weiwei

A modern-day Renaissance Man, Ai Weiwei, the renowned artist, activist, filmmaker, architect and collector, has collaborated with The Design Museum in London, to present “Making Sense” as “a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values.” The artist’s collection of objects, ranging from Stone Age tools to porcelain dating back to the Song dynasty, to iPhones and Lego bricks to recreate Monet’s Water Lilies, explore our material culture and tensions between construction and destruction as well as industrialism and craftsmanship. “Making Sense” of the dichotomy of consumption and the repression of the individual, Weiwei challenges us to make sense of our own values and the repression of the individual, all the while giving the middle finger to landmarks known as sites of power around the world.