WASHINGTON — Today’s Most D.C. Thing comes courtesy of releasesafeties on Reddit who posted this image with the headline “Spotted near Michigan & Taylor NE...a tree with googly eyes.” Which is exactly what it is.
I don’t know who did this, but it’s perfect! The googly-eye placement over that particular area of the tree is better than just funny. It should be up for a Mayor’s Art Award. The aesthetic is the intersection where social commentary converges with cartoonish absurdity. It's “The Scream” meets Master Shake. It’s high art. Which is probably what the person who did this was when he or she decided to buy giant googly eyes for a tree.
Anyone who has spent enough time in Northeast has ended up making that same facial expression at some point. That tree has definitely seen some things before anyone attached giant craft store eyes to it. It’s like a scared version of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Speaking of “I am Groot,” Vin Diesel released a debut single this past week. That tree probably listened to it right before making that face for the camera. It didn’t make that expression out of horror as most would expect, but because the song is actually catchy, despite Vin Diesel being the EDM equivalent of a mumble rapper. It manages to slap just a little in spite of Vin’s mush mouth vocals. So much so that it shocked an inanimate object.
Back to the tree. This is the Most D.C. Thing because it’s creative, it’s funny, and it’s on a street where we’d least expect to see it in our great city. I’d expect this type of thing in Adams Morgan, but not Brookland. Yet, here we are.