Another imaginationJordi Ortiz + 373 trees

“Another imagination. Jordi Ortiz + 373 trees” is an invitation to rediscover Barcelona’s urban nature. Jordi Ortiz has photographed the trunks of 373 species of trees, showing their intrinsic creativity and their interaction with the environment. The photographs reveal a hidden world of shapes and figures that emerge from the trunks, offering a new perspective on the nature that surrounds us.

Do trees have imagination? And if they do, what kind of images do they represent? And where do they show them? It is difficult to respond to these questions because, for a start, it is difficult for us to believe that there are other creatures capable of thought and imagination, apart from human beings.

“Otra imaginación” (Another Imagination) takes as reference a community of trees who coexist with other living creatures in a specific space, in this case, the city of Barcelona (but it could be any other city). 1,660,000 people and 1,400,000 trees interact in this space, in addition to other animals and plants. Of all these trees, 250,000 individuals live in parks, gardens, squares and streets, and represent approximately 400 species, including shrubs and palm trees. The rest of them are in a forest in the hills near the city. There are autochthonous species and others from diverse points of the planet.

“And suddenly we see a figure fighting like a warrior wearing a tall conical helmet; also, a face that emerges from the bark, but it is not possible to make out if it is human or not. Other figures can be made out which seem not to be human, but which remain figures, like that one where the head has no face and the torso is, on the other hand, a large face, and the lower part is covered with a long, floor-length skirt. And, especially, we see eyes, many eyes, which cannot be mistaken for bumps, because they look at us very intently.”

Victoria Cirlot, “The mystery of forms” (fragment).