“The idea of a tree” is an autonomous production process which combines natural input with a mechanical process. It is driven by solar energy and translates the intensity of the sun through a mechanical apparatus into one object a day. The outcome reflects the various sunshine conditions that occur during this day. Like a tree, the object becomes a three-dimensional recording of its process and time of creation.
The machine starts producing when the sun rises and stops when the sun goes down. After sunset, the finished object can be “harvested”. It slowly grows the object by pulling threads through a coloring device, a glue basin, and finally winding them around a mould. The length/ height of the resulting object depends on the hours of sunlight during the day. The thickness of the layer and the color depends on the amount of solar energy (more sun = thicker layer and paler color; less sun = thinner layer and darker color). This correlation between input and output makes the changes visual and readable. The product becomes a three-dimensional “photograph” of the time and the space in which it is produced and communicates certain characteristics of locality. The process does not just react to different weather situations, but also to shadows occurring in the machine’s immediate surroundings. Each object represents one day at one spot where it was produced.

Links: www.mischertraxler.com

Thomas Traxler (AT), born 1981. From 2006 to 2008 took an IM masters course (conceptual design in context) at the Design Academy Eindhoven/NL. 2003-2006 BA (hons) in product and furniture design at Kingston University, in St. Pölten / Austria and Kingston / UK. He tries to combine his technical and experimental approach with conceptual thinking to design and create things and systems.