Skulpturenpark Köln

In this present century, many species of forest flora and fauna will be forced to migrate hundreds of miles northwards to escape from the impact of global warming. Man's dependence on fossil fuels and other specific human activities, such as the destruction of the natural biotope, have only reinforced this development. However, man is also capable of reversing this trend and restoring the natural landscape. Since launching his career in the 1960s, the Land artist Alan Sonfist (b. 1946 in Bronx, New York) has pursued this objective in his work. With the aid of indigenous plants and innovative designs, Sonfist has revived the lost horticultural, cultural and geological history of specific locations. For the leaves in the Skulpturenpark, the artist has selected three representative species of tree, the German oak, the beech and the service tree. They cast the spotlight onto the crucial role played by endangered trees and on their significance for photosynthesis - a symbol for the cycle of life.