What Is 100 gecs tree

Overview

The 100 gecs tree is a pine tree located in Des Plaines, Illinois, that became an unexpected global phenomenon and cultural landmark after appearing prominently on the cover of the experimental hyperpop duo 100 gecs' debut album '1000 gecs' released in June 2019. The tree has transformed from an ordinary suburban landscape feature into one of the most visited non-traditional pilgrimage sites in North America, attracting devoted fans from across the United States and internationally. What began as a simple album art choice has evolved into a complex cultural phenomenon that challenges traditional definitions of monuments, shrines, and places of worship.

The tree stands on private property within an office complex owned by a subsidiary of Acuity Brands, a major industrial lighting company. Despite its location on corporate grounds, the site has become virtually impossible to ignore, with fans regularly traveling to Des Plaines to recreate the iconic album cover pose—standing with heads nestled into the branches, backs to the camera, mirroring the original image of duo members Laura Les and Dylan Brady. The phenomenon represents a unique intersection of internet culture, music fandom, and contemporary pilgrimage practices in the digital age.

How It Works

Understanding the 100 gecs tree phenomenon requires examining the interconnected elements that transformed a simple photograph into a globally recognized symbol of fan devotion and internet culture.

• Album Cover Significance: The tree appears as the central visual element on the cover of '1000 gecs,' 100 gecs' debut studio album released in 2019, with the artists positioned in front of the tree in a distinctive pose that fans have spent years recreating and documenting.
• Geolocation Identification: Dedicated fans used reverse image searches and location data analysis to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the tree in Des Plaines, transforming an anonymous landscape into a named destination with specific GPS coordinates that could be shared across social media platforms.
• Google Maps Designation: The tree was submitted and approved on Google Maps, where it is now officially listed as a 'place of worship' by thousands of user votes, representing a crowdsourced reimagining of the site's cultural significance and spiritual importance to the fanbase.
• Social Media Documentation: Fans document their pilgrimages through TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube videos, creating a continuous archive of visits that amplifies the tree's visibility and motivates additional fans to make the journey to Des Plaines themselves.
• Shrine Offerings Tradition: Visitors leave personal offerings beneath the tree's canopy including Monster Energy cans, friendship bracelets, collectible dolls, handwritten letters, flowers, and small trinkets, creating an ever-growing collection of devotional items similar to traditional pilgrimage sites.
• Petition Campaigns: Multiple online petitions have been created to recognize the tree as a historical landmark and cultural monument, with one change.org petition garnering over 5,000 signatures advocating to designate it as 'the eighth wonder of the world.'

Key Details

The 100 gecs tree phenomenon represents a 21st-century evolution of pilgrimage traditions, where physical travel combines with digital documentation to create shared meaning. The tree has become a symbol of fan devotion that transcends typical celebrity fandom, entering the realm of participatory art and collective world-building. The offerings left beneath the tree—carefully documented in countless social media posts—create an ephemeral museum of fan creativity that appears and transforms daily as new visitors arrive.

Why It Matters

• Redefines Monument Culture: The tree challenges traditional institutional definitions of what constitutes a significant landmark or monument, demonstrating that cultural meaning can be created organically through collective fan action rather than official designation or historical significance.
• Documents Internet Age Pilgrimage: It exemplifies how internet-connected communities conduct modern pilgrimages, combining physical travel with digital sharing to create hybrid experiences that blend virtual engagement with real-world devotion and community building.
• Celebrates Experimental Music: The tree serves as a testament to the growing cultural influence of hyperpop and experimental electronic music, genres that have gained mainstream attention largely through internet communities and fan-driven promotion rather than traditional music industry channels.
• Demonstrates Parasocial Connection: The phenomenon illustrates the intense parasocial relationships fans develop with artists in the streaming era, where access to behind-the-scenes content and constant online presence deepens emotional investment and motivates extraordinary displays of devotion.
• Creates Unexpected Tourism: Des Plaines has experienced unexpected tourism and media attention due to the tree, bringing attention to an otherwise overlooked suburban location and demonstrating how internet culture can suddenly place ordinary communities on global maps.

The 100 gecs tree ultimately represents something larger than a simple landmark or album cover reference—it embodies the power of collective fan action to transform ordinary spaces into sacred sites of cultural meaning and community gathering. In an era where much of fan culture exists in digital spaces, the tree provides a tangible, physical destination where scattered online communities can converge, creating memories and connections that blend internet culture with embodied experience. The tree's evolution from anonymous suburban pine to celebrated monument demonstrates how participatory culture and digital networks can fundamentally reshape how communities create, recognize, and honor shared meaning in contemporary society.