Fabricated in situ by New Zealand artist Chris Booth as part of Earth Art 2012, nac̓θətəɬp “Transformation Plant” was created in consultation with elders and key members of the Musqueam Indian Band who also bestowed its name. nac̓θətəɬp “Transformation Plant” is a collaboration with nature and community – living earth art. Musqueam elders advised that the small juvenile tree planted in the center should be the highly revered western red cedar. Over the years, as the fungi breaks down the stacked wood recycling it into humus, the red cedar will flourish into a beautiful tree while the stone slabs (‘petals’) will slowly open up like a flower.

Like Booth’s other wood and stone works such as Tranekaer Vader, 1998 and Zunderschwamm, 1999 nac̓θətəɬp “Transformation Plant” harnesses the great recycling ability of fungi to facilitate a very long term (30 +/- years) kinetic living earth art work. In doing these living works, it is one of the artist’s aims to highlight the wonders of fungi, the most extensive of all living organisms and one of our most ancient sources of food and medicine. This ancient and generally lesser known plant-like organism is vital to all life on earth, yet is threatened by human activities. The uncontrolled build-up of manmade greenhouse gas emissions is making our atmosphere inhospitable ‒ even toxic ‒ to life as we know it. The devastation caused by people is happening around us on an ever-increasing scale. Hopefully, these living earth art works will educate the visitor to be wiser – to become proactive in reversing this spiraling catastrophe.