Hollow

Spanning millions of years, Hollow is a miniature forest of all the world’s forests, telling the history of the planet through the immensity of tree specimens in microcosm. The sculpture brings together over 10,000 unique tree species, from petrified wood fossils of the earliest forests that emerged 390 million years ago to the most recent emergent species. Forming the inside in all directions, the untreated wooden pieces are organised in an organic yet precise manner specific to the origins, types and characteristics of the wood. Shifted and staggered to each other, thousands of blocks conjoin to form one immense cosmos of wood producing textures, apertures and stalactites. Openings in the vaulted top let in natural light through the otherwise dense structure, allowing just enough light to see, as if under the dappled light of a forest canopy. • www.hollow.org.uk • In collaboration with Katie Paterson. Photography: Max McClure