INFINITESIMAL CHANGESPep Vidal
CATESPENG

Long-term project

Colapse

A discarded Christmas tree replanted in Sweden, waiting for a future return.

Year2018–ongoing
ContextRijksakademie, Amsterdam · Ambras, LLS Paleis, Antwerp
LocationAmsterdam → Sweden
Curated byStella Lohaus
MediumAction, video, photographs, GPS coordinates
Colapse — tree replanted in Sweden

In April 2018, during my residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, I found a discarded Christmas tree in perfect condition. I took it back to the academy and asked a botanist where this species would typically grow. The answer pointed toward Scandinavian regions.

For the exhibition Ambras at LLS Paleis in Antwerp, curated by Stella Lohaus, I rented a van and travelled with Jéssica to Sweden. We drove until we found a suitable forest and replanted the tree there.

The work is not finished. I still keep the coordinates and the intention of going back one day to see whether the tree is alive.

Project phases

1. Found in Amsterdam · 2018

A Christmas tree discarded after the holiday season became the starting point of the project. Rather than treating it as waste, I kept it alive and brought it into the Rijksakademie.

1. Found in Amsterdam · 2018Amsterdam, April 2018

2. Journey to Sweden · 2018

After identifying the tree’s typical geographic range with the help of a botanist, Jéssica and I travelled north by van. The movement from city waste to forest became part of the work itself.

Van in SwedenSearching for a site in the forest

3. Replanting · Sweden, 2018

The tree was planted in a forest in Sweden. The planting was documented on video. The tree was left there to continue growing without further intervention.

Tree replanted in SwedenTree and forest in Sweden
Video documentation of the planting

4. Possible return · ongoing

The project remains open. I keep the GPS coordinates of the exact location and intend to return one day to look for the tree and see what has happened to it. Whether it is alive, dead, larger, damaged, or no longer there will become the next state of the work.

Exhibition context

Ambras, LLS Paleis, Antwerp, 2018. Curated by Stella Lohaus.

Coordinates

The tree was planted at 58°08'43.4"N 15°01'04.8"E (58.145389, 15.018000). The map below marks the point preserved within the work. Open in Google Maps ↗