Baum uses multiple 16mm film projections to create a sparse and virtual forest that is traversed by a solitary figure that appears both rooted and moving throughout the frames.  The cyclical and repetitive movement of the abstract wanderer suggests a passage of time, and a path through the subconscious as the drifter searches for his or her place.  An attempt to give form to intangible abstractions, such as “longing” or “isolation,” is evident in the discontinuous flickering of the trees caused by the single-frame footage shot of a motion picture camera—a staccato movement suggestive of Morse-code communication or the arrhythmic pressing of typewriter keys.

Whether seeing such things as a “man in the moon,” or finding faces and recognizable shapes in the clouds, humans have always searched for reflections of themselves within their surroundings.  While the human condition often seems caught in cycles of hopeless transience, nature—and, in particular, trees—by contrast, stand as rooted reminders of survival, regeneration, and optimism. Trees have come to represent a continuously renewed vigor and a victory over death.

Man’s reflection within nature is timeless, and the poetic metaphors that trees inspire in art are as relevant in a contemporary context as they were in antiquity. With its representation of human longing, loneliness, and introspection, as it appears in nature—drawn from the seemingly simple comparison between humans and trees (both upright, with their skyward branches/arms held to the heavens)—Baum continues this explorative dialogue.