There seems to be an entire forest competing to be London’s most impressive Christmas tree this year. (Let’s just say Trafalgar Square’s chances don’t look so hot!) Another tree that definitely isn’t ‘hot’ either, is the King’s Cross Christmas tree at Granary Square. The gorgeous tree stands at a stunning 17 feet tall and is lovingly decorated in 1,200 lights. What makes the tree particularly cool is that it’s surrounded by a sparkly block of ice.
The tree was designed from artist Alex Chinneck and is named ‘Fighting Fire with Ice Cream.’ Chinneck explains that the he wanted the glistening Christmas tree to be ‘visually and theatrically intertwined with the fountains of Granary Square.’ We’re huge fans of ‘Fighting Fire with Ice Cream’ but, being a sucker for a good allegory, we’ve come up with 4 alternative meanings of the spectacular Ice Cube Tree…
1. The warmly lit tree encased in the frozen ice represents the soft heart of a Londoner, hardened by one too many trips on the Piccadilly Line.
2. The frozen tree marks the end of 2016 (aka the year that should never have happened) and thus represents the desire to freeze 2016 in time and move swiftly into 2017.
3. The tree itself represents the childhood joy of Christmas, trapped beneath a weight of adult realisation, (the ice cube), that perhaps Christmas is in fact no more than a hyper-commercialised way for humans to feel a sense of togetherness.
4. Woah, that got really deep. Maybe the Ice Cube Tree simply exists to represent beauty and also because it’s cool AF. And what’s cooler than being cool? ICE COLD.
[Feature Image: King’s Cross]