Beautiful jumping Logs art installation that lets you walk on 20,000 litres of water

Tree-mendous! Inside the art installation that lets you walk on water… by leaping from log to log And see your beautiful reflection also wow…..

Project at Bristol’s Arnolfini arts centre features 20,000 litres of water

Visitors explore it by walking on logs from a 150-year-old Douglas fir tree

Installation is highlight of German artist Matti Braun’s Gost Log exhibition

It is based on a movie by renowned Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray entitled The Alien, which was never released but is thought to have inspired Steven Spielberg’s hit E.T.

Artist Matti Braun’s exhibition centrepiece at Bristol’s Arnolfini

When firefighters got a call asking them to pump 20,000 litres of water at an art gallery, they may have expected to find a serious case of flooding when they arrived.

But the crews were actually needed to help create a work of art which, unusually, required the water to be pumped into the first floor of the building.

Now the only way to get about the room at Bristol’s Arnolfini arts centre is to walk on pieces of a 150-year-old tree, arranged in the water like stepping stones.

The unusual installation is the central work in an exhibition called Gost Log, by Berlin-born artist Matti Braun.

It is based on a movie by renowned Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray entitled The Alien, which was never released but is thought to have inspired Steven Spielberg’s hit E.T.

The extra weight of the water on the art centre is estimated to be almost 20 tonnes and the building’s architects had to be consulted before the project could begin.

The logs on the water are remnants of a Douglas fir tree from Gloucestershire’s Westonbirt Arboretum, which had to be felled due to an invasive fungus.

Andy Jane, of the Forestry Commission, told the BBC at the time: ‘As with all trees that have to be removed as part of the management of Westonbirt’s tree collection, this historic Douglas fir won’t be wasted.

‘Westonbirt’s trees go on to become a multitude of things, from woodcraft, tables and flooring to woodchip for the arboretum’s paths, but this is the first time we have linked with a major art exhibition.

‘We are all excited to see how the installation will look.’Visitors will get the chance to see how the installation looks when the display opens on Saturday. It is due to run until January 6.

A series of talks, screenings and events will accompany the exhibition