Platanus bibliotechalis – (note the capital P and lower case b and all italicized,
as is the case in genus – specie plant identification)
David Wiseman
This artwork, located in the grand interior stairwell of the Library, reflects the relationship
between the new West Hollywood
Library and West Hollywood Park. Clad in cast porcelain sycamore bark, tree trunks
emerge from the stairs, plastered steel and bronze branches continue their ascent
toward the skylight and sprout copper, brass, and steel leaves as well as porcelain seed
pods. The site specific installation engages with the large air space above the stairway,
providing a link between the park that surrounds it and the library itself.
The project is inspired by the ancient indigenous sycamores of the region, whose ghostly
branches emerge through the walls and grow sixty feet into the volume of the space,
welcoming people to the library collection as they reach toward the light above.
