Spirit Nests - Jayson Fann

Have you ever wanted to experience the life of a baby bird? How about curling up in a cosy nest perched high in the air? California-based artist Jayson Fann is giving humans that chance, building gigantic nests out of locally harvested tree branches.

The Big Sur Spirit Garden, founded by Jayson Fann, is an International Arts and Cultural Centre located in the beautiful Big Sur valley between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 

The nests are made from tree branches that are harvested from local forests. Jayson does this with great respect and care for the trees choosing the branches and carefully cutting them so that the tree is not damaged. He uses mostly Eucalyptus wood, a non-native tree which can often be invasive and crowd out native plants The best branches he gathers from the top of the tree as they are more mature, strong, and have unique spiralling shapes sculpted by wind and time.

After sorting his cuttings by size, he then assembles them in a spiral pattern using the natural flexibility of the wood to lock together the pieces like a basket. He also uses hidden screws for extra strength. Once the nest has reached a certain size, he transports it to its final location, sometimes employing trucks and cranes for his larger pieces. Once on location, he does the final assembly, including weaving it onto a robust base.

This nest required a large quantity of wood and a lot of weaving. It's extremely strong as a result of using thicker branches. You can rent out this nest by the night at the Treebones resort in Big Sur,California.

Source:    http://bigsurspiritgarden.com/Spirit_Garden_/Big_Sur_Spirit_garden.html ht:bigsurspiritg

Upside Down Willow Chair by Floris Wubben

When I first saw an image of this chair I was confused, naturally assuming the legs to be seperate from the seat as in a normal chair build and then becoming fascinated the more I learnt.

This chair by Dutch designer Floris Wubben  was made by binding and splinting the branches of a willow tree, forcing them to grow into four legs. 

A seat and backrest were then cut into the trunk and the whole thing inverted.

This chair is made of a (inverted) willow tree. The legs have been obtained by twisting and splinting its branches and letting it dry into the final shape. The seat and back were naturally kept in line with the bole’s silhouette. This project had been put in practice jointly with the artist Bauke Fokkema.

I've seen a lot of willow art from dutch designers recently, with the willow loving water side growing conditions I guess this is no surprise.

Source:  http://www.floriswubben.nl/