It’s In The Trees, It’s Coming

Installation (Salt dough, mugwort, fungal culture, mixed fabric), audio track, 10 min. (loop), in collaboration with Laura Franzmann, 2020

Laura Franzmann and Rosanna Graf open up the Neue Barmbeker Apotheke, Hamburg by looking into the past of the former pharmacy building. Healing does seem to be necessary here: The backyard, inhabited by rats, is doomed – the building is soon to be demolished. During the installation, a crow flies against the window pane, leaving behind the perfect imprint of its feathers. The maple tree standing in the backyard: diseased. Franzmann and Graf pay their last respects to the tree by festive hanging. Mugwort, a magical herb that grows just as wildly in the backyard, is harvested and bound into large bouquets and placed in the exhibition room. Salt dough objects populate the house and the tree. An audio track carries the inner life of the tree into the courtyard and the pharmacy. The sound of an axe already menacingly hacking the tree is audible in the distance. The voices of invisible tree dwellers amuse themselves unseen. The shower in the basement holds a mushroom culture: The hope of new life after demolition?

“Mugwort is one of the most important plants of the
folk magic. In Germany, it is called the Mother of all
Herbs. The ancient Romans said it banishes demons, and this belief has been preserved until modern times. An ancient German spell for safety from evil forces is possible to do at any time: Make three bunches of the herb and place them in your room.”
(from Treadwell’s Book of Plant Magic)

Recipe for a flying ointment:

19g henbane
10g mandrake (root)
20g Datura leaves
20g Belladonna
10g johimbe
5g black poppy

Boil everything with about 800ml of water for 1 hour, until half of the water has evaporated. Stir again and again! Then press through a cloth and stir in a liquid-binding cream, then bring to a boil. Should be enough for approx. 250g of ointment.To fly smear a little ointment onto a broom or other suitable tool, which then immediately should be clamped between the legs. Have a safe flight!

It’s in the trees, it’s coming, Neue Barmbeker Apotheke, Hamburg, curated by Conrad Hübbe and Martin Karcher, 2020, installation views (Photos: Conrad Hübbe)

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It's In The Trees, It's Coming

Installation (Salt dough, mugwort, fungal culture, mixed fabric), audio track, 10 min. (loop), in collaboration with Laura Franzmann, 2020

Laura Franzmann and Rosanna Graf open up the Neue Barmbeker Apotheke, Hamburg by looking into the past of the former pharmacy building. Healing does seem to be necessary here: The backyard, inhabited by rats, is doomed – the building is soon to be demolished. During the installation, a crow flies against the window pane, leaving behind the perfect imprint of its feathers. The maple tree standing in the backyard: diseased. Franzmann and Graf pay their last respects to the tree by festive hanging. Mugwort, a magical herb that grows just as wildly in the backyard, is harvested and bound into large bouquets and placed in the exhibition room. Salt dough objects populate the house and the tree. An audio track carries the inner life of the tree into the courtyard and the pharmacy. The sound of an axe already menacingly hacking the tree is audible in the distance. The voices of invisible tree dwellers amuse themselves unseen. The shower in the basement holds a mushroom culture: The hope of new life after demolition?

“Mugwort is one of the most important plants of the
folk magic. In Germany, it is called the Mother of all
Herbs. The ancient Romans said it banishes demons, and this belief has been preserved until modern times. An ancient German spell for safety from evil forces is possible to do at any time: Make three bunches of the herb and place them in your room.”
(from Treadwell’s Book of Plant Magic)

Recipe for a flying ointment:

19g henbane
10g mandrake (root)
20g Datura leaves
20g Belladonna
10g johimbe
5g black poppy

Boil everything with about 800ml of water for 1 hour, until half of the water has evaporated. Stir again and again! Then press through a cloth and stir in a liquid-binding cream, then bring to a boil. Should be enough for approx. 250g of ointment.To fly smear a little ointment onto a broom or other suitable tool, which then immediately should be clamped between the legs. Have a safe flight!

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