Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’

2023

Installation with 7 LED-lights flashing in Morse code in a Japanese maple tree.

The LED Morse code tell fragments of what might have happened to a crew in distress after been shipwrecked between the Canary Islands and Morocco.

I have been told this story many times while growing up. After my father´s death the history has changed and new details and chapters have been added, both from my imagination and from memories of the other crew members. Photographs from the ship's previous voyages are mixed with pictures in my head, both depicting a foreign place and deep waters.

Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’, also known as Japanese maple has red characteristic leaves and is planted as an ornamental plant in southern Sweden. The tree belongs to the family of Chinese tree plants, Sapindaceae and is native to Japan, Korea, eastern Mongolia, China and south east Russia.