BCASFD parquet (2024), aluminium
Beetle Convicted after Spruce Found Dead
North Rhine-Westphalia – Defective judgement in case of the biggest biological loss of forest in Germany
Germany witnesses the greatest biological loss of forests in history. Visiting my grandparents close to Cologne, I was observing and capturing the forest catastrophe from a young age on. Over the years, the green landscape turned light brown. And today, it turned into kilometre-long spruce log piles. It is said to be caused by the overpopulated bark beetle. However, climate change, planting of spruce monocultures, war reparations, political decisions and eventually human neglect and ignorance have all played a major part. The forest was transformed into a factory with the tree being the product – a product prone to diseases and natural events, such as the bark beetle infestation. To give an idea of the scale, the commercialised spruce tree is by far the most used and thus the most important wood in Europe.
BCASFD publication (2023)
The BCASFD sculptures refer to objects that are used for and made of spruce wood. The overall industrial aesthetic indicates the industrialization of nature. Herringbone parquet is widely used and easily recognizable.
BCASFD parquet (M) (2024), aluminium
BCASFD fragment (2025), aluminium, permanently installed in Galerie Gruppe Motto, Hamburg, DE
BCASFD sanctuary of the beetle (2024), aluminium
BCASFD pallet (2023), aluminium
Spruce wood is the most attractive wood on the market, it is widely used – among others for pallets. Since the German industry does not want to adapt the machines to the slimmer sizes of the trunks, more than 80% of the timber went to China where it was processed there. The 1:1 aluminum pallet with one beetles traces beam reveals what we do not see when purchasing the processed timber: the loss of forest through the beetle and its footprint.
detailed shot BCASFD (2023)
(im)measuring tools (2024), aluminium, steel
detailed shot BCASFD wall piece (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
BCASFD #471 (2023), aluminium
installation view KABK (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
detailed shot (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
Sealed (2023), container seals, signatures
Three container seals symbolise the “sealed” agreement by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin from Yalta Crimea Conference in Feb 1945, when deciding over war reparations. The container seals on a pile represent the sealed containers filled with spruce timber.
Kulturfrau minted on 50 penny coin (2023), penny coin, steel
Since most man died in war or were kept in captivity, mostly women planted the spruce monocultures. With the introductipon of a new currency in 1948, a women planting a tree was minted on the back of the 50 Pfennig coin as an acklowledgement for her work.
BCASFD publication (2023)
BCASFD publication (2023)
BCASFD parquet (2024), aluminium
Beetle Convicted after Spruce Found Dead
North Rhine-Westphalia – Defective judgement in case of the biggest biological loss of forest in Germany
Germany witnesses the greatest biological loss of forests in history. Visiting my grandparents close to Cologne, I was observing and capturing the forest catastrophe from a young age on. Over the years, the green landscape turned light brown. And today, it turned into kilometre-long spruce log piles. It is said to be caused by the overpopulated bark beetle. However, climate change, planting of spruce monocultures, war reparations, political decisions and eventually human neglect and ignorance have all played a major part. The forest was transformed into a factory with the tree being the product – a product prone to diseases and natural events, such as the bark beetle infestation. To give an idea of the scale, the commercialised spruce tree is by far the most used and thus the most important wood in Europe.
BCASFD publication (2023)
The BCASFD sculptures refer to objects that are used for and made of spruce wood. The overall industrial aesthetic indicates the industrialization of nature. Herringbone parquet is widely used and easily recognizable.
BCASFD parquet (M) (2024), aluminium
BCASFD fragment (2025), aluminium, permanently installed in Galerie Gruppe Motto, Hamburg, DE
BCASFD sanctuary of the beetle (2024), aluminium
BCASFD pallet (2023), aluminium
Spruce wood is the most attractive wood on the market, it is widely used – among others for pallets. Since the German industry does not want to adapt the machines to the slimmer sizes of the trunks, more than 80% of the timber went to China where it was processed there. The 1:1 aluminum pallet with one beetles traces beam reveals what we do not see when purchasing the processed timber: the loss of forest through the beetle and its footprint.
detailed shot BCASFD (2023)
(im)measuring tools (2024), aluminium, steel
detailed shot BCASFD wall piece (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
BCASFD #471 (2023), aluminium
installation view KABK (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
detailed shot (2023), Photo: Sunhyo Mast
Sealed (2023), container seals, signatures
Three container seals symbolise the “sealed” agreement by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin from Yalta Crimea Conference in Feb 1945, when deciding over war reparations. The container seals on a pile represent the sealed containers filled with spruce timber.
Kulturfrau minted on 50 penny coin (2023), penny coin, steel
Since most man died in war or were kept in captivity, mostly women planted the spruce monocultures. With the introductipon of a new currency in 1948, a women planting a tree was minted on the back of the 50 Pfennig coin as an acklowledgement for her work.
BCASFD publication (2023)
BCASFD publication (2023)