Hello Wood has gotten into the holiday swing of things with a Ai Weiwei-esque installation. With 365 sleighs, some colored lights and lots of helpful hands, the Hungary-based art program put together a Christmas tree made entirely of the multitude of sleighs. The entire installment—which is on display at the Palace of Arts in Budapest—gives off the same glow and textures that we see in Weiwei's bike installations.
Lucky for us, the organization has created an online panoramic view just in case you can't make it to Hungary this holiday season. You can take a look at the entire structure from two vantage points: a passerby's view and an inside look at the core of the installation (which you can also experience on-site.
The entire tree stands 33 feet tall and took a week to put together. The support base is made of steel and the entire tree weighs in at 4.5 tons. Once the installation is taken apart in January, the sleighs will be donated to SOS Children's Village—an international orphanage program. Hello Wood tells shares more specifics on what it took to actualize this project:
The four stems of the installation hold about 716 pounds each. First, the carpenters of Hello Wood made the 31.5-foot tall wooden frame, which was brought to the scene, where it was put together with the help of a crane and the use of welding techniques. Then came the alpinists of Hello Wood, who were working on the installation for four consecutive days, fixing the sledges on the wooden frame while hanging down from the top of the tree.
Check out this timelapsed video to see what stacking hundreds of sleighs really looks like:
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