Tree (installation)

{{Short description|Inflatable sculpture by Paul McCarthy}}

{{Infobox artwork

| title = Tree

| artist = Paul McCarthy

| completion_date = October 2014

| material =

| subject =

| height_metric = 24

| width_metric =

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| metric_unit = m

| imperial_unit = ft

| condition = Destroyed; removed

| city = Paris

| museum =

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| coordinates = {{Coord|48.8675|2.3294|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| owner =

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}}

Tree was a controversial {{convert|24|m|ft|adj=on}} high inflatable sculpture by the artist Paul McCarthy that was briefly installed in the Place Vendôme in Paris in October 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29658502|title=Paris 'sex toy' sculpture raises storm|publisher=BBC News|date=2014-10-17}} as part of a Paris International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) exhibition called "Hors les murs".{{cite web|url=http://news.artnet.com/art-world/paul-mccarthy-beaten-up-over-butt-plug-sculpture-136129|title=Paul McCarthy Beaten Up over Butt Plug Sculpture|publisher=Artnet|author= Alexander Forbes|date= October 17, 2014 }}

Although officially described as a Christmas tree, it was widely criticized for its similarity in appearance to a huge green butt plug.{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20141017-us-artist-erects-giant-green-butt-plug-paris-france-art/|title=US artist erects giant green 'butt plug' in Paris|publisher=France24|date=2014-10-17}}{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2014/10/17/mccarthy-agresse-pour-l-erection-d-un-arbre-de-noel-ambigu-place-vendome_4507834_1655012.html|title=McCarthy agressé pour l'érection d'un arbre de Noël ambigu, place Vendôme|date=17 October 2014|language=French|first=Emmanuelle|last=Jardonnet|newspaper=Le Monde}} McCarthy admitted that it was deliberately shaped as such as a joke.{{cite news|last1=Chazan|first1=David|title=Vandals deflate giant 'sex toy' sculpture in Paris|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11171441/Vandals-deflate-giant-sex-toy-sculpture-in-Paris.html|accessdate=19 October 2014|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=18 October 2014}}

The controversy over the sculpture led to McCarthy being assaulted and the sculpture being vandalized only two days after its installation; a vandal climbed the fencing around it and cut the power supply which kept it inflated, in addition to cutting the cords holding it up. McCarthy stated that he did not want the work repaired or replaced.{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20141018-paris-giant-green-butt-plug-vandalised-paul-mccarthy-place-vendome/|title=Paris's giant 'butt plug' installation vandalised|publisher=France24|date=2014-10-18}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/paris-flustered-erection-sex-toy-sculpture-article-1.1978409|title=Paris flustered erection sex toy sculpture|publisher=NY Daily News|date=2014-10-18}}

The attention given to the sculpture brought a boom in sales of real butt plugs in Paris: a sex shop owner reported that he usually sold 50 per month predominantly to gay men, but in November 2014 sold over 1,000 roughly divided equally between men and women.{{cite news|last1=Mulholland|first1=Rory|title=Parisians snap up 'butt plugs' after 'Tree' scandal|url=http://www.thelocal.fr/20141202/parisians-butt-plug-sex-toy-paul-mccarthy|accessdate=3 December 2014|work=The Local|date=2 December 2014}}

In 2016 he again exhibited Tree at Paramount Ranch 3 in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the reception was positive and visitors "reveled in its absurdist glory".{{Cite web|title=Big Collectors Head to Paramount Ranch 3|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/paramount-ranch-art-fair-final-show-416987|date=2016-01-31|website=artnet News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-14}}