Join us on March 9^th for a tree-planting by Joel Tauber in conjunction with a closing reception for Systems Theory and Jessica Rath: Song to Snore.

 Tauber explores elemental philosophical questions about our relationships to nature and the environment in an often quixotic approach. In past projects, he has tried to find spiritual experience by inserting himself into holes in the ground, by flying in the air suspended by helium balloons, and by diving into the ocean to compose music with his body. His new endeavor, "Sick Amour", describes his two year long love affair with a forlorn Sycamore tree in Parking Lot K at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. In a 12 channel video installation and a series of photographs Tauber chronicles how he first fell in love with this tree and then embarked on a quest to improve its living conditions, to build a museum in its honor underneath its canopy, and finally to help it reproduce.

 Because there was no place for its offspring to grow in the sea of asphalt that surrounds it, Joel Tauber gathered many seeds from the Sycamore tree at the Rose Bowl. Approximately 200 tree babies took root and are being nurtured with help from the Theodore Payne Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization that promotes the understanding and preservation of California native flora.

 The artist is now intent on finding green homes for these tree babies. A site has been selected on the Torrance Art Museum grounds to place a tree. This event will take place from 2 to 4 pm.

 For more information about "Sick Amour" please visit Joel Tauber's website at http://www.joeltauber.com/sickamour.html