Our collaborating team, Art Plexus, is exploring the theme of the Elements. We consider Nature as a whole, concentrating on its few specific aspects. Besides the traditional four earth, water, fire, and air, we expand our urban search to plants, rocks, and open space. 

Based in New York City, we strive to maintain the delicate balance between the healthy psyche of the individual and the urban lifestyle. We see a forest as a perfect example of a symbiosis of elements co-existing in harmony. The spiritual connection to Nature must be noticed, although it tends to be underestimated by urban planning. However, looking at the lifestyles of many individuals, pets, and houseplants are becoming more important, as the statistic of the appropriate retailers shows.

People are looking to connect with Nature in the city parks, looking for clearance in the busy streets to release the claustrophobic feeling of tight spaces and crowds. People are more sensitive to urban noises and are greatly affected by the AQI (air quality index) in densely populated areas. Urban trees physically act as a buffer to both the air quality and urban density. They act as auditory noise filters and a visual relief for sore eyes. Spiritually, the trees keep us all connected, enveloping us with their green leafy hugs and reaching out to the skies towards the sun and clouds, symbolizing aspiration. 

Conceptually, trees promote contemplation through their silent presence and provide shade within which one can get chill. The roots that go deep into the ground, into the layers of geological and anthropological history. The root system of the trees is a structural model of all relationships in the all-connected universe. Therefore, all the elements are connected through the trees, earth, water, sun (the element of fire), air (particularly its chemical regeneration of vital oxygen), and so-called the fifth element of ether (that is spiritual consciousness). The generational wisdom of indigenous people stems from a respectful and even devotional relationship with their surroundings. Their communities benefit from mental clarity and physical fitness. 

We want to harvest their living experience as an example and inspire our contemporaries living in large cities to honor trees and green oases amidst the “concrete jungle” and picture a forest full of different functions and connections as one living ecosystem.