About
One of a series of stainless steel trees that Paine executed for city parks, Placebo’s placement is as important to its meaning as its form and title. Standing nearly sixty feet tall, the tree is composed of twenty-four different size stainless steel pipes and rods that have been welded together. The trunk supports more than five-thousand pounds of branches that are cantilevered in place, making the tree an enormous balancing act and a construction phenomenon. By placing Placebo among the other trees of Forest Park, Paine establishes a dramatic contrast between the naturally occurring and the obviously man-made.
For more information visit the Saint Louis Art Museum website.
Dimensions: 56′ x 46’6″
Year Completed: 2004
Material: Stainless steel
Owner: Saint Louis Art Museum
Donor: Commissioned with funds given in memory of John Wooten Moore
*Photo Courtesy of Forest Park Forever.