“Tree”, David Byrne — RIP Robert Wilson

This way: Tree

Robert Wilson (October 4, 1941 – July 31, 2025) was an American experimental theater stage director and playwright who was described by The New York Times as "[America]'s – or even the world's – foremost vanguard 'theater artist.'" He also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist, and sound and lighting designer. 

Wilson is best known for his collaboration with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs on Einstein on the Beach, and his frequent collaborations with Tom Waits. In 1991, Wilson established The Watermill Center, "a laboratory for performance" on the East End of Long Island, New York, regularly working with opera and theater companies, as well as cultural festivals. Wilson "has developed as an avant-garde artist specifically in Europe amongst its modern quests, in its most significant cultural centers, galleries, museums, opera houses and theaters, and festivals".

Robert Wilson's "the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down": This ambitious, multi-part opera was conceived by Robert Wilson for the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles. It involved an international group of artists, but logistical and funding issues prevented a full premiere of the 12-hour work. David Byrne composed the music for a section of the opera known as the "Knee Plays". These shorter, relatively lighter interludes were designed to connect the longer, more complex scenes of the larger work. The Knee Plays feature a recurring motif of a tree, which appears in the first and last Knee Play, and undergoes transformations throughout the segments (being cut down, used for a boat, transforming into a book, and growing back again).

 

[Spotify] Tree