Labyrinth of 1001 Endangered Trees within a Stone Ship

Artist: Alan Sonfist
1993

Please note: An admission fee (25 kr.) is required to enter the Palace Park.

Labyrinth of 1001 Endangered Trees – art in nature

In the heart of the castle park, you will find the work Labyrinth of 1001 Endangered Trees within a Stone Ship by the artist Alan Sonfist – a place where nature and art merge and evolve over time.

The work was created as a reflection on Denmark’s nature and history. The striking stone setting brings to mind ancient ship settings and simultaneously tells a story of humanity’s interaction with the landscape.

Originally, the ground within the stone setting was shaped like an oak leaf – inspired by the forests that were once felled to build Viking ships, among other things. The idea was that the area would be planted with over 1,000 oak trees, forming a living pattern in the landscape.

However, the planting was never carried out. Although the artist envisaged an interplay between the oak trees and nature, the trees were not planted. Instead, the area’s natural vegetation was allowed to develop freely.

Today, therefore, it is the local flora that has taken over and characterises the area within the large stones. This is entirely in keeping with the work’s fundamental idea: to make room for nature’s own processes and allow the landscape to change over time.

The work stands as a quiet reminder of how nature is slowly reclaiming what has been created by humans. The heavy stones remain, whilst life within them is constantly changing – a living collaboration between art and nature.

Alan Sonfist works precisely with this balance between culture and nature. His works revolve around time, change and the evolution of the landscape, where nature is not controlled but is allowed to unfold.

Alan Sonfist

Alan Sonfist, born in 1946 in the South Bronx, has worked primarily in the USA, but also in Germany, Brazil, France and Italy – both with land art and with sculptures and projects that reveal the original landscape.