Art on the Meuse unveils Mark Dion’s ‘Tree of Life’ in Lanaken

Mark Dion’s “Tree of Life” is the first permanent artwork developed for the public art project “Kunst aan de Maas”. The acclaimed artist created a tree sculpture featuring animals and objects that refer to the surrounding landscape. His tree of life is like a journey through the past, present and future of the Meuse Valley. The creative power of nature is the central theme.

A symbolic tree for a symbolic place

The artwork is as symbolic as its location. Residents are moving out of Herbricht, a small village in Lanaken, and no one else is taking their place. While the village is dying out, the majestic Meuse river remains. On a small hill near the water, galloway cattle and konik horses seek refuge at high tide. "That image of the river receding after a flood was a great source of inspiration for me. After the flood, the trees were still standing, full of grasses, plastics and strange objects," Mark Dion explains. "It made me reflect on the landscape over time. The river has been flowing here for thousands of years and will keep on flowing for thousands of years after us. Time flows through a landscape like water flows through a river."

The circle of life 

On this hill on the banks of the Meuse stands a tree of life six metres high. Konik horses and Galloway cattle gather here at this refuge during high water. The Meuse was once a sea. Then an ice plain and now we know it as a rain river. That circle of life is reflected in this tree. You see sixteen objects and animals hanging, all related to the ecology, mythology or history of this place. Each of them tells a story. With the Mosasaurus or mesh lizard you travel 75 million years back in time, with the woolly mammoth to 10,000 B.C. The Meuse Valley is now home to animals and insects such as the earthworm, the beaver, the green frog, the blue heron and the stag beetle. The buck with the silver chalice refers to the eighteenth-century legend of the Buckriders, a local gang of robbers.

Local and international craftsmanship

For the production of the animals and objects in the tree, Mark Dion joined forces with Ron Holthuysen. Together with his team, Ron went to work based on Mark’s drawings. Each piece, including the tree itself, was handmade with a keen eye for detail. To do this, Mark and Ron collaborated with local companies from Limburg. Dion: "A tree is a marvel of technology, so it was quite a challenge to design something like this." The tree sculpture was designed in such a way that it fits into its surroundings, but it looks artificial at the same time. It is almost surreal and has a sense of humor: "This is an atypical tree in the landscape, because the last thing you’d expect when you walk up to a tree is to see strange things hanging in it. Some of them are funny, like the giant earthworm. We play with proportions and scale, like a tiny mosasaur or mammoth. "

From Herbricht to Heppeneert for more ‘Art on the Meuse’

Besides Herbricht, you can visit Heppeneert. Here, writer Maarten Inghels created a sand sculpture with the words ‘Save Our Souls’. It expresses a cry for help in times of increasing floods and summer droughts. The fact that the artwork might be washed away by the river is essential. In this way, the writer points out how vulnerable we are to the immense power of water. Moreover, the words also refer to the nearby pilgrimage church.

About Mark Dion

Conceptual artist Mark Dion was born in 1961 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He lives and works in Copake, New York. Dion gained international acclaim for his work, which examines ecological issues and the perception of nature.  Among other things, Dion is known for his spectacular cabinets of curiosities that question the distinction between ‘objective’ scientific knowledge and ‘subjective’ views and beliefs, such as the artwork "The Accused" (2020) that he created for the Verbeke Foundation. Over the past three decades, he has made numerous artworks in public space, including “The Amateur Ornithologist Clubhouse” (2016) in Essen and “Den” (2012) in Norway. In recent years, Dion's work has been at the subject of solo exhibitions at venues including Storm King Sculpture Park, Cornwall, NY (2019), Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018), Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2017) and Museum De Domijnen in Sittard (2013).

Practical information

The Tree of Life in Herbricht is easily accessible via the hiking and cycling route network. You can park on Parking 17, 18 or 19 of the Oud-Rekem hiking area. From here, follow the "Kunst aan de Maas" signs on the hiking or biking poles. We recommend you to wear sturdy, waterproof hiking shoes.

Fancy more culture and nature? Then continue your hike via the orange hiking loop. This route takes you through the southernmost part of the RivierPark Maasvallei (River Park Meuse Valley). You will pass by Oud-Rekem, which was situated along the Meuse in a distant past. As time went by, the river moved its course eastwards. During the trip you will discover the unpredictable river and her twists and turns. The route also passes by the Hochterbampd nature reserve, a natural area that emerged at a former gravel extraction site.

Art on the Meuse is an initiative of Z33, House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture (Hasselt) and Regionaal Landschap Kempen & Maasland.

The project is supported by Flanders, in particular by Tourism Flanders and the Cultural Infrastructure Fund (FoCI), and the five Flemish Meuse municipalities (Kinrooi, Maaseik, Dilsen-Stokkem, Maasmechelen and Lanaken). The project is being carried out in cooperation with numerous actors who are active in the Meuse valley.