Honoring the American Chestnut Tree

When Atlanta artist Michael Murrell told me of his project of digging up the massive stump of an ancient chestnut tree that he found in the national forest (he got permission) — and that he recorded much of it with a shaky camcorder — I thought of his work as performance art. So we put together his shaky footage with a brief interview in his studio to make this short film that honors the past — and future — of this beloved tree.