we shall by morning inherit the Earth, 2025

In the installation, the past, present and future are intertwined. From a wallpaper photograph, the past specter of a monoculture plantation extends into the physical space, where tree stumps dominate the floor, doubling as seats for visitors. The installation includes a decommissioned chainsaw lying on the floor, Heterobasidion fruit bodies and a backpack sprayer once used to treat stumps against infection – all silent yet crucial protagonists within this ever-unfolding scene. 

A soundscape animates them, functioning as a portal within this haunted landscape. In its recent past it was alive with birdsong, but then ruptured by the shriek of chainsaws and the mournful crash of falling trees. In its present state, it is slowly and decisively claimed by fungi, which, in the near future, are destined to inherit the Earth. This gradual conquest unfolds within the soundscape and on the screen, where a video portrait of one of these stumps is shown as it becomes gradually colonized by Heterobasidion.

In a primary forest, wood decay and root rot fungi have the key tasks of facilitating the death, decay and recycling of older or unfit individuals. Without death and decay, there would be no physical space or nutrients for new generations of trees. Heterobasidion, one of such fungi, is rare in primary forests because ideal infection conditions are infrequent. However, operations associated with plantation forestry and logging cause wounds in standing trees and generate stumps. Wounds, stumps, and the proximity of planted trees are ideal for infection and spread by this fungus through interconnected roots: Heterobasidion becomes locally dominant making forest stands unproductive for timber or pulp production and unsafe for recreation.