Invocation for Hope, MAK, Vienna, 2021. Image courtesy of Stephan Lux.

Exhibition Text

The forest appears quiet. Waiting for us to listen.

Wander up the ramp. Tread carefully along the path, meander past the skeletal remains of black pine. Row after row, arranged in a perfect, orderly grid, their blackened bodies remain stubbornly standing in the damaged soil. Pause a moment. Examine the dark, uneven surfaces of the decomposing bark that still holds onto its slender host. A stark reminder of that luminous flame that swept their bare skins, extinguishing their dreams of canopying under the white sun.

Millennia of  communal bonds broken by human greed in just a few hundred years. Whole ecologies disturbed by capitalism and war destroying life sustaining worlds-taking human and non-human alike.

If you lend your ear to  the grid, you might hear the echoes of that calamitous terraforming in the hollow landscape.

The traces of this destruction persist in the grey rocks littered across the land. How do we move forward in this shattered landscape?

Hold onto this predicament and continue the journey  to the  end, and you may hear whispers of a sprightly frond, unfurling in the mythic shadows of bumt black pine. The enticing poem of a resurgent forest rising from the skeletal remains, gracefully returning fertility to the earth.

In the heart of the dead forest, a glimpse of an interdependent, tentacular flourishing, a glimpse of hope. Come along, with abandon, and embrace this spirited renewal in, and amongst, damaged ruins.

Dance with wild grasses amid adolescent trees. A spell binding dawn chorus calling out across the midsummer morning. If you gaze into the glistening pool, what awaits? A hope for a renewal of our bonds.

A hope for new, collaborative world-making. Worlds where humans and non-humans carve and shape their destinies together.

An ecology of refugee species in reflection, taking strength in each other. Taking courage in the mere fact that they are not alone, that as long as there is life there is hope. Is this you? Are you them?

Welcome to our Forest.

Images

Photoshoot by Stephan Lux.

Image courtesy of Superflux.

Photoshoot by Lorenz Seidler.

Film

Exhibition

Invocation for Hope was an immersive installation in the central hall of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna from 28 May to 3 October 2021 for the Vienna Biennale 2021

Press

Die Klimafrage als Erlebnis – Gerald Heidegger and Florian Baranyi for ORF

“one of the most impressive installations of recent times”

Superflux creates forest of over 400 fire-blackened pine trees at Vienna Biennale – India Block for Dezeen

“The living oasis is a symbol of hope to encourage people to think about new ways to live with the natural world after climate change.”

Superflux creates a resurgent forest as the centrepiece of Biennale – Archhello

“Instead of setting out to scare viewers, they offer a vision of life flourishing amid ruin, a portrait of the possibility of global rebirth.”

This haunting forest offers hope in the face of climate change – Mark Wilson for Fast Company

“As you walk into the room, you realize it’s no normal room. It’s a living forest, transported into the frame of four white walls.”

Invocation for Hope, Superflux: Vienna Biennale – Damn Magazine

“[…] the installation leads viewers one by one on a personal journey from the ravages of climate crisis to the possibility of renewal and a deeper connection with nature.”