fly to mars, 6 and 9

2006 and 2009
Video installation

Steinkamp frequently explores the meaning of time specifically through working with images of trees. The seasons are referenced through the change in foliage—from a green, leafy summer, to an orange autumn, to a pink spring of blossoms and buds. The trees’ branches bend and leap, seemingly in an attempt to break free from the earth, as they pull themselves toward the sky, or to Mars, as the title implies. Bowing up and down with surprising force, the mature trees snap back and forth like nubile saplings, as though weathering a storm in high speed.

Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Jennifer Steinkamp (American, b. 1958), Fly to Mars, 6, 2006. Video installation, 12’ x 14’ 10” (3.66 x 4.52 m)
Jennifer Steinkamp (American, b. 1958), Fly to Mars, 9, 2009. Video installation, 11’ 2” x 8’ 2” (3.40 x 2.49 m)