'Blue line'
Forest is a space that absorbs and creates a feeling of dissolving into the environment. The bright spot of colour makes the forest ‘recede’ into the background and focus on the blue line.
The decision to ‘mark’ the fallen tree creates an emphasis not only on the tree itself as an object, but also on how our perception of space changes. The ‘bright’ and ‘unnatural’ colour emphasises the artificiality of this intervention, and at the same time it makes us look at a familiar landscape in a new way: to look at the details, to think about how the viewer's perception can be ‘switched’ by a single colour mark.
The blue colour does not carry a symbolic meaning, but acts as a compositional element: according to the canons of classical painting, cold shades are usually placed in the far background, creating the illusion of depth, forming a spatial perspective and enhancing the effect of presence in the landscape.
The work evokes a sense of quiet wonder or even a slight displacement of reality, as if we were suddenly witnessing an abnormal phenomenon. This technique of ‘micro-surrealism’ in the context of Land Art refers to the dialogue between man and nature, where the artist deliberately provokes the viewer to reconsider his understanding of the familiar landscape - a ‘new sense and perception of space’ is born.
Forest is a space that absorbs and creates a feeling of dissolving into the environment. The bright spot of colour makes the forest ‘recede’ into the background and focus on the blue line.
The decision to ‘mark’ the fallen tree creates an emphasis not only on the tree itself as an object, but also on how our perception of space changes. The ‘bright’ and ‘unnatural’ colour emphasises the artificiality of this intervention, and at the same time it makes us look at a familiar landscape in a new way: to look at the details, to think about how the viewer's perception can be ‘switched’ by a single colour mark.
The blue colour does not carry a symbolic meaning, but acts as a compositional element: according to the canons of classical painting, cold shades are usually placed in the far background, creating the illusion of depth, forming a spatial perspective and enhancing the effect of presence in the landscape.
The work evokes a sense of quiet wonder or even a slight displacement of reality, as if we were suddenly witnessing an abnormal phenomenon. This technique of ‘micro-surrealism’ in the context of Land Art refers to the dialogue between man and nature, where the artist deliberately provokes the viewer to reconsider his understanding of the familiar landscape - a ‘new sense and perception of space’ is born.
From photo to video - the evolution of perception.
In the photographic format, the work gives a general idea of the scale and context of the forest space. The video format allows the viewer, through camera movement, to experience the extent of the fallen tree, following the artist along the entire ‘marked’ object. The first-person video lasts about two minutes and reveals the space and scale of the forest with particular clarity. This technique seems to place the viewer in the role of a co-participant of the process: the viewer sees the forest as the artist sees it and ‘walks’ with the artist, measuring himself step by step with the size of the trunk.
Historical context and direct transmission of impressions
In the history of art, artists have always endeavoured to convey through their perception what they have seen or experienced. This ‘direct transmission of impressions’ helps the viewer not just to see, but to feel the idea behind the work. In this case, the marking with blue sand not only visually highlights the fallen tree, but also helps to look at the forest in a new way: to realise its size, to think about how easily a natural object can disappear among endless trunks and branches, and how a bright mark ‘pulls’ it to the foreground of our attention. Video brings this idea to the maximum, ‘stretching’ the moment of contact between the viewer and the object and allowing us to feel the scale and space.
Scale and duration
The blue sand that marks the tree both indicates the artificiality of human intervention and emphasises the imposing size of the object itself. The visual contrast ‘pulls’ the tree out of the overall context of the forest, giving it the status of the central character of the narrative. As the viewer watches the video, he or she compares the time it takes to walk round the tree with the actual scale of the landscape and begins to perceive its depth and extent more acutely. Moreover, from the video one can even indirectly read how long and labour-intensive the process of creating the work could have been: in fact, it is several hours in ten-degree frost, which only strengthens the impression of the labour and time spent.
Ephemerality and the impact of nature
The video shows that it is snowing, and it gradually covers the bright blue sand. This emphasises the ephemeral nature of the intervention itself: nature ‘puts the work to sleep’, which means that its final appearance is constantly changing. The artist enters into a dialogue with nature, giving it the opportunity to re-shape what was created. In this way, the video becomes a kind of testimony to how artificial colour accents are incorporated into the natural cycle and how nature itself, step by step, absorbs them.
Sound and physical presence
In addition to the visuals, sound plays an important role: you can hear the artist walking, breathing, wading through the thicket, the crackling of branches underfoot and the crunching of snow. The camera wobbles and the slight fluctuations of the picture show that the path is uneven and in some places difficult to traverse. All this creates the effect of presence, increasing the feeling of harshness of the winter forest. The viewer does not just see the tree, ‘walking’ together with the artist and imagining all the nuances of this path - the cold, the slippery ground, the paths covered with branches. Unlike the ‘frozen moment’ of the photo, video gives a time parameter through which you can feel more deeply both the forest itself and the scale of the fallen trunk.
Thus, the video becomes a ‘continuation’ and ‘extension’ of the original photo. While a photo only captures a moment, a video has movement, sound and duration that allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the space and feel the enormity of the forest and the human gesture that has been introduced into its environment.
In the photographic format, the work gives a general idea of the scale and context of the forest space. The video format allows the viewer, through camera movement, to experience the extent of the fallen tree, following the artist along the entire ‘marked’ object. The first-person video lasts about two minutes and reveals the space and scale of the forest with particular clarity. This technique seems to place the viewer in the role of a co-participant of the process: the viewer sees the forest as the artist sees it and ‘walks’ with the artist, measuring himself step by step with the size of the trunk.
Historical context and direct transmission of impressions
In the history of art, artists have always endeavoured to convey through their perception what they have seen or experienced. This ‘direct transmission of impressions’ helps the viewer not just to see, but to feel the idea behind the work. In this case, the marking with blue sand not only visually highlights the fallen tree, but also helps to look at the forest in a new way: to realise its size, to think about how easily a natural object can disappear among endless trunks and branches, and how a bright mark ‘pulls’ it to the foreground of our attention. Video brings this idea to the maximum, ‘stretching’ the moment of contact between the viewer and the object and allowing us to feel the scale and space.
Scale and duration
The blue sand that marks the tree both indicates the artificiality of human intervention and emphasises the imposing size of the object itself. The visual contrast ‘pulls’ the tree out of the overall context of the forest, giving it the status of the central character of the narrative. As the viewer watches the video, he or she compares the time it takes to walk round the tree with the actual scale of the landscape and begins to perceive its depth and extent more acutely. Moreover, from the video one can even indirectly read how long and labour-intensive the process of creating the work could have been: in fact, it is several hours in ten-degree frost, which only strengthens the impression of the labour and time spent.
Ephemerality and the impact of nature
The video shows that it is snowing, and it gradually covers the bright blue sand. This emphasises the ephemeral nature of the intervention itself: nature ‘puts the work to sleep’, which means that its final appearance is constantly changing. The artist enters into a dialogue with nature, giving it the opportunity to re-shape what was created. In this way, the video becomes a kind of testimony to how artificial colour accents are incorporated into the natural cycle and how nature itself, step by step, absorbs them.
Sound and physical presence
In addition to the visuals, sound plays an important role: you can hear the artist walking, breathing, wading through the thicket, the crackling of branches underfoot and the crunching of snow. The camera wobbles and the slight fluctuations of the picture show that the path is uneven and in some places difficult to traverse. All this creates the effect of presence, increasing the feeling of harshness of the winter forest. The viewer does not just see the tree, ‘walking’ together with the artist and imagining all the nuances of this path - the cold, the slippery ground, the paths covered with branches. Unlike the ‘frozen moment’ of the photo, video gives a time parameter through which you can feel more deeply both the forest itself and the scale of the fallen trunk.
Thus, the video becomes a ‘continuation’ and ‘extension’ of the original photo. While a photo only captures a moment, a video has movement, sound and duration that allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the space and feel the enormity of the forest and the human gesture that has been introduced into its environment.