The image of the World Tree can be found in most religions and cultures of the world. People believed that the Tree is the architecture of the world and the structure of human consciousness at the same time. At different stages of the development of human thought, various approaches and descriptions of the World Tree were formed. The concept of the axis of the Universe, the unity of the earthly and heavenly, internal and external, were laid in the symbolism of its image.
In different cultures, there are traditions of ‘communication’ with the Tree. People would go to forests to the old trees, perform rituals, ask for help, share secrets. They believed that trees would hear them and that everything would change for the better in their lives. Modern research also proves that while being in the silence of trees, human thoughts slow down and their psychophysical state comes into balance.
The light interactive installation STEM (from the English “Stem” - trunk, to occur, grow straight, take the beginning) reflects the immersive state of the viewer at the moment they are next to a tree in an artificially created environment. AMIANGELIKA immerses the viewer in information flows through the opposition of external and internal, the conflict of chaos and order, and returns them to where they came from.
The viewer is allowed to observe their condition, by changing the degree of impact on them of the direct audio broadcast of city sounds from the city in which the installation is located. By the sounds of the city streets, it is possible to determine the city’s rhythm, time of day, and season. This allows the viewer to feel the destruction of immersiveness and feel the presence in a double reality. The closer the viewer walks up to the Tree, the quieter the sound becomes, the further away from it - the louder it becomes. The light in the installation represents the metaphorical breath of the Tree emanating from the earth, and the metal structure of the Tree itself is a confirmation of the artificial origin of the immersiveness in the installation.