Tree Timeshare

June 20-July 19, 2026 / Companion Gallery, Coordinates of Belonging

June 2026 / Commissioned for Thick Time, White River Farm, Indianapolis, IN

Printed flags, flagpole

While visiting Indianapolis, Kim Beck got to know the trees surrounding an old farm–Ginkgo trees, Oaks, Sugar Maples, Silver Maples, Sycamores, and newly planted Chestnuts. She would touch their bark to say hello, appreciating the brief time her human existence overlapped with theirs.

This series of five flags was created from direct rubbings of specific trees’ bark, translating the textures into a series of "mood signals" or qualities trees teach us. The trees project certain qualities, and the flags allow viewers to signal these qualities back to the trees and the world. The flags live in a collection of handmade, hand-painted wooden boxes. When selected and flown, they can communicate a viewer’s shifting internal state, signaling renewal, radiance, persistence, stability, or stillness. 

The five boxes are accompanied by a sixth box containing excerpts from essays, poems, lyrics, etc about trees. This sixth box will be a growing archive of the ways we share time with trees. 

Additionally, Beck and curator/commissioner Sarah Urist Green invited composer and musician Stuart Hyatt to see each flag as a score for a sound composition. He created a new five-part work that can be played while each flag is raised and lowered.