Karl Momen

Karl Momen (born 1934) is a Swedish architect, painter and sculptor. He was born in the city of Mashad, Iran.

Works

Momen is the creator of the Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, an 87-foot (27 m) sculpture resembling a tree in the Bonneville Salt Flats off of Interstate 80. Apparently, while driving along the highway to California, Momen had a vision of a tree in the desert. He financed the project himself and built it from 1982 to 1986, afterwards donating the sculpture to the state of Utah.[1]

The Iranian-born Momen, who painted portraits of Stalin and the Shah of Iran early in his career, later studied with the surrealist painter Max Ernst, and studied architecture at the Kunst Academy in Stuttgart, Germany. It has been said that he was moved to create the 87-foot-tall (27 m) tree by the "vastness and relative emptiness" of the Bonneville Salt Flats, and that the tree "brings space, nature, myth and technology together". The tree's six spheres are all coated with natural rock and minerals found within the state of Utah, and the pods below symbolize the changing of the seasons, when trees naturally transform themselves. The tree is the property of the State of Utah.[2]

gollark: If you force people to STOP making emotional appeals, it may be somewhat better.
gollark: Of course, you might dispute that it'll actually save lives or something, but factual issues can be debated more sanely than the usual political thing where you just fight to connect your opponent with disliked things.
gollark: You can say "this policy will be good due to saving some amount of lives through X" instead of "this policy is amazing and wonderful because we will move toward good things and away from bad things and think of the children all who disagree support terrorism".
gollark: Yes, make them flat and unconvincing, stop politicians trying to get emotional points through.
gollark: What?

References

  1. Balaz, Christine. Backroads & Byways of Utah: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions, p. 223 (The Countryman Press, 2011).
  2. Coolidge, Matthew and Simons, Sarah. Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America with the Center for Land Use Interpretation, p. 247 (Metropolis Books, 2006).



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