2021
Site-specific, series of 4 pictures, photo-performance Marta Lodola, Görlitzer Park, Berlin. Materials: performer’s body, Quercus Robur No. 522, movement
I walk until I am positioned behind Oak No. 522, the central axis of my body is in line with the axis of the tree. I point with my arms in two opposite directions, directing the energy horizontally, while my legs are rooted into the ground. The pelvic area is turned towards the roots, the head towards the branches, my frontal contact with the tree remains intimate and invisible to the eyes of the spectator. I wrap my arms around its trunk, abandoning myself to its care.
Before Christianization, the pagan cult of trees (dendrolatry) or “arboreal cult” was widespread and the oak tree was considered the most powerful among them. Celts, Germans, Balts, Slavs, and Indo-European people believed divinities were existing within the sacred oak. For the Greeks the Sacred Oak of Dodona was the most archaic oracle where Zeus used to be worshipped. They saw in this tree the representation of the microcosm, also called “Axis mundi”, inhabited by powerful nymphs and divine animals.
The site-specific action brings again to the center the sacred relationship between humans and trees. Calling for an expansion of energy towards the opposing sides serves as a good omen for the elimination of discrimination and division, returning to imagine every possible unifying center near every tree, in this park and elsewhere. I invite you to look for oak number 522, sit for a moment on its roots, listen, and conclude by giving thanks.
ph Donatella Magna