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Entertainment & Arts

Artist still pines for Prometheus, the Methuselah of bristlecones

Artist Jeff Weiss commemorates the memory of a tree named Prometheus in a snow globe containing an ethereal white rendering of the gnarled bristlecone pine that lived for roughly 5,000 years in eastern Nevada.

Artist Jeff Weiss commemorates the memory of a tree named Prometheus in a snow globe containing an ethereal white rendering of the gnarled bristlecone pine that lived for roughly 5,000 years in eastern Nevada.   (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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A Santa Monica artist’s devotion to the memory of a 5,000-year-old tree felled for science in 1964 remains sturdy as an oak.

Commemorating Prometheus

The piece of 1,000-year-old tree used by artist Jeff Weiss and bonsai artist Robert Pressler to create a living facsimile of Prometheus at Kimura Nursery in Northridge. Pressler had to carve the tree to give it the correct shape. The 5,000-year-old bristlecone pine Prometheus was in Great Basin National Park in Nevada until 1964.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Commemorating Prometheus

Artist Jeff Weiss organized a commemoration for Prometheus on the 50th anniversary of its demise in 1964. The ceremony included the following items: a white snow globe with a rendering of the tree, a set of white headphones attached to an iPod Nano for Weiss’ commentary, a numbered glass watering bottle and a printed invitation describing the proceedings.   (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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