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''An Oak Tree'' is a conceptual work of art〔(Irish Museum of Modern Art Website ) modernart.ie〕 created by Michael Craig-Martin in 1973. The piece, described as being an oak tree, is installed in two units – a pristine installation of a glass of water on a glass shelf on metal brackets 253 centimetres above the ground, and a text mounted on the wall. When first exhibited, the text was given as a handout.〔Bery, Bryony. ("An Oak Tree 1973: Technique and condition text" ), Tate, June 2005. Retrieved 8 November 2008.〕〔Manchester, Elizabeth. ("An Oak Tree 1973: Short text ), Tate, December 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2008.〕〔(Artist's Text )〕 The text takes the form of a Q&A about the artwork, in which Craig-Martin describes changing "a glass of water into a full-grown oak tree without altering the accidents of the glass of water," and explains that "the actual oak tree is physically present but in the form of the glass of water." Craig-Martin considered "the work of art in such a way as to reveal its single basic and essential element, belief that is the confident faith of the artist in his capacity to speak and the willing faith of the viewer in accepting what he has to say".〔 The ''Catholic Herald'' compared the work to the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Real Presence. The original is in the National Gallery of Australia and an artist's copy is on loan to the Tate gallery. ==Artwork== ''An Oak Tree'' is a work of art created by Michael Craig-Martin in 1973, and is now exhibited with the accompanying text, originally issued as a leaflet.〔 The text is in red print on white; the object is a French Duralex glass, which contains water to a level stipulated by the artist and which is located on a glass shelf, whose ideal height is 253 centimetres with matte grey-painted brackets screwed to the wall.〔 The text is behind glass and is fixed to the wall with four bolts.〔 Craig-Martin has stressed that the components should maintain a pristine appearance and in the event of deterioration, the brackets should be resprayed and the glass and shelf even replaced.〔 The text contains a semiotic argument,〔Sherwin, Brian. ("Art Space Talk: Michael Craig-Martin" ), myartspace.com, 16 August 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2008.〕 in the form of questions and answers,〔 which explain that it is not a glass of water, but "a full-grown oak tree," created "without altering the accidents of the glass of water."〔 The text defines accidents as "The colour, feel, weight, size...". The text includes the statement "It's not a symbol. I have changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree. I didn't change its appearance. The actual oak tree is physically present, but in the form of a glass of water."〔 and "It would no longer be accurate to call it a glass of water. One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree."〔 The impossible is deliberately asserted and the text examines the impossibility of the assertion, which uses the idea of transubstantiation in the same way as the Catholic religious belief that bread and wine, while maintaining an unchanged appearance, are changed into Christ's body and blood.〔 Craig-Martin has a Catholic background〔Crane, Charlie. ("Michael Craig-Martin: out of the ordinary" p 2 ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', 24 November 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.〕 and was an altar boy.〔Crane, Charlie. ("Michael Craig-Martin: out of the ordinary" p 1 ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', 24 November 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.〕 He sees belief of both artist and viewer as having a key place in art, and that in ''An Oak Tree'' he had "deconstructed the work of art in such a way as to reveal its single basic and essential element", namely this belief.〔 ''An Oak Tree'' was a turning point in his artistic development: prior to it his concern had been deconstruction, and afterwards he was "trying to put the pieces together again."〔 Subsequently, using the rationale of Marcel Duchamp's ''Fountain'', he worked with drawings of utilitarian objects and flat areas of colour, with the goal of discarding meaning, which is "both persistent and unstable", although he states that people's need to create associations and meanings makes this goal unachievable.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「An Oak Tree」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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