Speaking Willow

In the newly created courtyard entrance of the museum, Speaking Willow – the first permanent installation in D.C. by renowned contemporary artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer – provides an immersive language experience for visitors upon arrival at Planet Word. The metal sculpture, resembling a weeping willow, plays voice recordings from hundreds of different languages as visitors pass underneath its branches. The interactive sound-and-light sculpture features 364 individual speakers and 3.6 miles of ethernet cable and was commissioned by Ann and Tom Friedman in partnership with New York's Public Art Fund. "Speaking Willow" is a sound sculpture in the shape of a weeping willow tree, between 16 and 20 feet high, which adorns the entrance of the Planet Word Museum. The tree sculpture is fabricated in aluminum and is hollow, except the trunk and branches carry inside data cables that emerge from the structure and hang vertically, slowly swaying with the wind. The tree is covered by living vine, Ivy or other evergreen climbing plants that warm-up the design.