Through the form of the tree stump, As Long As I Remain explores the invisible connections that link trees together and shows a sensitive interpretation of the wood wide web, a network inspired by underground connections.
In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben observes how an old stump stayed alive thanks to nutrients transmitted by nearby trees through their roots.
Therefore, trees are not isolated but form an interconnected community capable of mutual aid.
As Long As I Remain emerged from my observations of landscapes in transition, as a landscape architect and designer. The project offers to look at the traces left by transformations and human interventions, as well as the relationships that continue to endure beneath the ground.
The stump became a carrier of memory. It preserves the trace of something that once existed but has disappeared.
The installation unfolds in the form of sixteen hand sculpted ceramics stumps of ash, poplar, oak, and alder, developing a distinct language of forms and textures for each species.
Underneath the stumps, the vibrant-colored tufted rugs are mapping a sensitive landscape interpretation. Like an X-ray of what usually remains hidden, the rugs unveil underground systems of exchange, where the boundaries between life and death become less clear in favor of relationships and interdependence.
When the rugs are deployed, participants can experience these living connections.
What remains is not what we see, but what continues to connect us.
Because As long as I remain, something of them remains too.