''Tree of Codes'' is an artwork, in the form of a book, created by

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works ''Eati ...

, and published in 2010. To create the book, Foer took

Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. In 1938, he was awarded the Polish Acade ...

's book ''

The Street of Crocodiles ''The Street of Crocodiles'', also known as ''The Cinnamon Shops'', ( pl, Sklepy cynamonowe, lit. "Cinnamon Shops") is a 1934 collection of short stories written by Bruno Schulz. First published in Polish, the collection was translated into Eng ...

'' and cut out the majority of the words. The publisher, Visual Editions, describes it as a "sculptural object." Foer himself explains the writing process as follows: "I took my favorite book, Bruno Schulz’s ''Street of Crocodiles'', and by removing words carved out a new story". Due to the physical difficulties involved in printing a book where most of the words have been cut out, Foer stated that he had to contact several different publishers before finding one who was willing to print it. The only printing office who could do the job was die Keure, from Belgium. He also said that due to the way the book had to be bound, it could not be produced in a hardcover edition.

Reception

'' The Times'' described it as "a true work of art." Heather Wagner at ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' called it "a quietly stunning work of art." Michel Faber, at '' The Guardian'', said that while Foer showed a strong sense of poetry, the book was less successful as a work of fiction.

Adaptations

The book was adapted into a ballet by choreographer

Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of t ...

, composer

Jamie xx James Thomas Smith (born 28 October 1988), known professionally as Jamie xx, is an English musician, DJ, record producer and remixer. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the English indie pop band The xx. He has been described ...

, and visual artist Olafur Eliasson. It was first shown in the UK as part of the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first tak ...

in July 2015, for which it was commissioned, and subsequently received its US premiere at the

Park Avenue Armory __NOTOC__ The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The in ...

in September 2015. Australian composer Liza Lim adapted the book into an opera. The joint production by

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera ( German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court ...

and

Hellerau Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stadtteil)'' in the city of Dresden, Germany, slightly south of Dresden Airport. It was the first garden city in Germany. The northern section of Hellerau absorbed the village of Klotzsche, where some 18th cent ...

featured ensemble

musikFabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphali ...

and premiered on 9 April 2016. The cast included Emily Hindrichs as Adela, Christian Miedl as the Son and

Carl Rosman Carl Rosman is an Australian clarinettist, singer and conductor. Rosman studied with Phillip Miechel in Melbourne, then with Peter Jenkin at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has performed in Europe, Asia, Australasia and both North and S ...

as the Mutant Bird. The opera's US debut took place at the 2018 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina in a new production under the direction of

Ong Keng Sen Ong Keng Sen (born 20 November 1963; ) is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in 1985. Early life Ong Keng Sen was youngest of six children born to immigrants from Putian, China. Ong joined the drama cl ...

. The cast for this production featured Marisol Montalvo as Adela, Elliot Madore as the Son, and Walter Dundervill as The Dresser.Spoleto Festival USA 2018 Event Guide
Accessed: June 6, 2018."

External links

*
Tree of Codes
' at Visual Editions.

References

{{Reflist Novels by Jonathan Safran Foer Novels adapted into ballets Novels adapted into operas Adaptations of works by Bruno Schulz 2010 American novels