Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, Abstract sculpture on Interstate 80 in Tooele County, United States.
Metaphor: The Tree of Utah is a sculpture standing 27 meters tall along Interstate 80 in Tooele County, a rural area in Utah. Six large spheres rise from a rectangular trunk covered with natural rocks and minerals found throughout the state.
Swedish artist Karl Momen created the sculpture in the 1980s and dedicated it in 1986. He was moved to build it after having a vision of a tree while driving across the Bonneville Salt Flats. After the dedication, Momen donated the work to the State of Utah and returned to Sweden; in 2011 he proposed a visitors center at the site, to be paid for by donations.
The trunk carries lines from Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy, the same text Beethoven set to music in his Ninth Symphony. This link between European poetry and American desert landscape reflects the Swedish artist's vision of connecting cultures across continents.
The sculpture stands directly beside Interstate 80 without any marked parking or official viewing areas. Visitors should exercise great caution if approaching and remain aware of passing traffic.
A fence now surrounds the base to protect people from falling tiles, a detail easy to miss from the highway. The sculpture was dedicated in 1986, and its creator Karl Momen returned to Sweden after donating it to the State of Utah.
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