This summer, experiential artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast unveil an interactive video installation and a series of open-eyed meditations at Kew Gardens, inspired by one of the world’s most magnificent oak trees.

Opening to the public on 3 May 2025, Of the Oak marks Kew’s first-ever outdoor digital art commission, fusing of-the-moment scientific research alongside Marshmallow Laser Feast’s signature blend of poetry and innovation. This world-premiere installation takes visitors on a captivating visual and auditory journey, using extensive real-world data to unveil the hidden interplay of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the majestic Lucombe oak—one of Kew Gardens’ most remarkable trees. Visitors are invited to explore a deep connection to the majestic tree’s story and resilience, as they peer through its unique characteristics and learn about its vital role in the ecosystem.

Of the Oak is a 12-minute interactive video installation that takes viewers on a sensory journey across the transformation of Kew’s Lucombe oak across four seasons, unveiling the tree’s hidden vibrancy and intricate web of life. Standing as a 6-meter-high LED portal in the heart of Kew Gardens, the work is an invitation to witness the oak tree as a living monument of connection; a keystone in the web of life. Journeying into the hidden life within the oak’s form, audiences will be able to peer beneath its bark and soil, revealing the usually unseen processes that sustain the tree. Visitors can actively impact the motions of the oak on screen by moving in front of it, and an online guided breathing meditation will allow audiences to synchronise their breathing with the rhythms of the oak. The installation will also illuminate the oak’s sequestration of carbon dioxide through the mycelial network, and the release of life-giving oxygen into the atmosphere, as well as highlighting the interconnected web of over 2,300 species which rely on the tree for sustenance and survival.

Of the Oak’s online field guide serves as a gateway to the vast web of relationships sustained by the oak trees at Kew. By scanning QR codes placed throughout the gardens, visitors can explore an intricate living network—unveiling how these ancient trees support thousands of species, from nesting pied flycatchers to the delicate purple hairstreak butterfly. Enhancing this journey, open-eyed meditations—written by Daisy Lafarge, Merlin Sheldrake, Ella Saltmarshe, and Laline Paull—can be accessed in designated areas, inviting visitors to sit and contemplate among the trees. These meditations deepen the experience, bridging the scientific and the poetic, expanding the video artworks’ themes into a solitary, immersive encounter with the natural world.

Planting acorns in the human imagination, informed by science and created in collaboration with ecologists, and field experts including researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, the project blends artistic rendition with advanced imaging technologies to reveal the oak not just as a mere tree, but as a living nexus of connection and reciprocity.

Following in the footsteps of major contemporary art commissions at Kew from the likes of Marc Quinn, Felicity Aylieff, Matt Collishaw, Rebecca Louise Law and Dale Chihuly, this new work draws on the wealth of Marshmallow Laser Feast’s internationally acclaimed artworks that look to illuminate hidden connections beyond our everyday perception and remind us of our inseparability from the natural world. Employing a wealth of creative disciplines that span design, digital media, performance, and sculpture, Marshmallow Laser Feast invites audiences to navigate new sensory perspectives.

A blend of nature and technology
To create this innovative new work, Marshmallow Laser Feast have collaborated closely with scientists and horticulturists at Kew Gardens, using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning to create a 3D model of the tree, as well as high-resolution photogrammetry and CT scanning to capture intricate details of branches and leaves. For the first time, Marshmallow Laser Feast have also used Ground Penetrating Radar to map the root system of the Lucombe oak, using real-world data to showcase the foundations of this remarkable tree. This technology is regularly used by horticulturists at Kew Gardens to effectively assess plant health and monitor Kew’s record-breaking living collection, including over 11,000 trees.

The Lucombe Oak
The Lucombe oak is one of the oldest trees at Kew Gardens. Originally planted on Syon Vista, it was uprooted and moved in 1845 by landscape designer William Nesfield because it didn’t fit in with the design of the view. Not only is it one of the oldest trees at Kew, but it’s also one of the oldest Lucombe oaks in existence – grown from a cutting of the original hybrid (Turkey oak x Cork oak) which spontaneously crossed at a nursery outside Exeter in 1762. Drawing inspiration from a tree which is over two centuries old, Of the Oak will explore the invisible magic at work within each leaf, branch and root of this astonishing tree.

Ersin Han Ersin, Creative Director at Marshmallow Laser Feast said: “We aim to plant acorns in the human imagination. Informed by science and created in collaboration with researchers, the project blends art, ecology, and technology to reveal the oak not merely as a tree, but as a living nexus of connection and reciprocity. The artwork serves as a portal into the intricate and often unseen world pulsating within the oak’s magnificent structure, celebrating its ecological significance and the myriad forms of life it supports throughout its existence.”

Paul Denton, Head of Visitor Programmes and Exhibitions at Kew, added “Working with artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast on this unique project, we have blended art, science, and horticultural ingenuity to create an extraordinary innovative interactive portrait of Kew’s remarkable Lucombe oak. This collaboration, marking Kew’s first-ever outdoor digital commission, will invite visitors to reflect on the delicate connections between the trees which sustain us and the future which we are shaping together through a constantly shifting world.”