Unlike ordinary trees, which branch out hierarchically upward from a central trunk, the banyan drops multiple aerial roots from its tentacle-like branches. A heterarchy.
The project began life through encounters with banyans in Singapore and southern China. In December 2025 I filmed the five-acre Great Banyan Tree in Kolkata with a view to developing virtual and physical structures from a 3D digital model. This process is also producing drawings, sculptures, digital works and potentially large interactive structures.
I am extremely grateful for the support of the AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden, as well as colleagues at Goldsmiths Computing, wood sculptor Tim Norris and design collective Yes Make.
Theory
- Vesna Kuiken: Emerson’s Banyan-Rhizomatics (PDF)
- Deleuze & Guattari: The Rhizome (PDF)
- Donna Haraway: Tentacular Thinking
Source photos, sketches and models
Model 5 work in progress
Phoenix Fry 