About

Next to Crystal Kabinett in the nearby Crystal Palace Park, a crab apple tree labeled Malus sylvestris traces its human use back to the Neolithic period, its pips found in the prehistoric depths of the Ness of Brodgar.

Building on Kabinett’s previous interventions with potatoes and onions, London-based artist Haoyue Chen turns to apples. Ordinary yet highly symbolic, the apple recalls temptation, abundance, and knowledge.

Chen invites us to consider its public role: what do we think when we see urban fruit growing free — or seemingly so? Do we reach out, or hesitate, unsure if it is safe, ripe, or even allowed? Whether food, ornament, or climate regulation, who decides who public fruit belongs to, and what kind of precedent does this set?

Here, apples hang on fish wire, echoing the act of looking up into branches. They also hang as questions: what is offered, what is withheld, and how do we navigate the space between public and private?