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The Line of Questioning

Addison Street Windows, City of Berkeley, CA
December 8, 2008 – January 17, 2009

Collaborative project:
Text and sculptural elements: Laurie Polster
Photographs: Janet Delaney


The Line of Questioning draws on the primordial nature of trees as a metaphor for ecological and social sustainability. Through strength and vulnerability, cycles of destruction and regeneration, trees stand as a living testimony that record the passage of time, frame the present, and provide a window into the future. Juxtaposing evocative visuals with two disparate, resonant stories — the collapse of Easter Island and the rise of catastrophic forest fires — The Line of Questioning raises critical issues about the seduction of ideology and mythology that impacts our relationship to the natural world.

Text poem across the linear facade of the windows:

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SEE THE TRANSPARENCY IN REFLECTION  /  WHEN DOES SUPPLE SKIN BECOMES A WALL OF INDIFFERENCE  /  IF ABSENCE IS AS IMPORTANT AS PRESENCE / WHAT IS MISSING FROM THIS PICTURE / WHAT IMPRINT REMAINS • / WHAT PROPELS FEAR INTO OUT OF CONTROL BEHAVIOR  /  WHAT PROPELS FEAR INTO CONTROL BEHAVIOR  /  WHY ARE THERE TREES I NEVER WALK UNDER  /  IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO TOUCH SO MANY THINGS  /  WHY IS IT SO ELUSIVE TO  MAKE CONNECTIONS • / WHAT DID THE TREE LEARN FROM THE EARTH TO BE ABLE TO TALK WITH THE SKY / WHY WORSHIP IDEOLOGY THAT IS INHERENTLY SELF-DESTRUCTIVE / WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO BEGIN WITH / IF ABSENCE IS AS IMPORTANT AS PRESENCE / WHO DECIDES WHOM TO INVITE TO THE TABLE / IN WHAT LANGUAGE DO THEY DREAM • / WHY DO TREES OUTSTRIP MOST PEOPLE IN THE EXTENT AND DEPTH OF THEIR WORK FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD / AND HOW GOOD IS THE PUBLIC • / WHAT IS SO SEDUCTIVE ABOUT SCALE OR POSSESSION  /  THAT DRIVES THE WILL OF PROGRESS INTO REGRESSION  /  FIRES THAT BURN SO HOT THEY STERILIZE THE SOIL  /  I AM SITTING HERE TERRIFIED  /  WHAT WERE  THEY THINKING  /  WHEN THEY CUT DOWN THE LAST  /  HOW LONG SHOULD I KEEP DOING THIS  /  IF I DON’T WHO PAYS  /  WILL ANYONE NOTICE  •  /  WHY