Design studio Superflux has set up hundreds of trees damaged by forest fires around an oasis of living plants for an installation called Invocation for Hope at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.
The exhibition is on display as part of the Vienna Biennale for Change 2021, which has the theme Planet Love: Climate Care in the Digital Age.
The dead pine trees come from the Neunkirchen region of Austria
Superflux transported 415 dead black pine trees from Austria's Neunkirchen region to the capital. The Anglo-Indian studio collaborated with the local forestry and fire departments to salvage the trees.
They used horses to drag the dead pines, which had been burned in wildfires and had to be specially treated for display, to shipping containers to transport them to the museum. The pine trees were burned in wildfires
The exhibition also features 27 living trees, shrubs, mosses, grass and lichen that have been planted in the centre of the installation around a circular reflective pool.
These plants will continue to grow throughout the exhibition, thanks to a combination of regular watering and light from grow lamps and a skylight overhead.
Living trees and plants sit at the centre of the room
A two-way mirror sits at the bottom of the pool in front of a screen onto which video is projected.
When visitors to the MAK look into the pool they will see footage captured by underwater cameras placed in the water troughs of animals such as lynx and bison at the Alpenzoo Innsbruck, an Aus...