The World Upside Down

Ampelhaus, Oraniebaum, Germany 2015.
Site-specific installation, variable dimensions.
Birch trees, birch leaves, metal connections, paint.

The World Upside Down was first inspired by the surroundings of Oraniebaum with its historical and industrial heritage. The old industries of what it was once East Germany lay now in complete abandonment and in decay, providing the perfect soil for the growth of spontaneous birches’ forest, that with their life are preparing the soil for more demanding species. In between the architecture’s ruin these elegant and generous trees fight to re-establish the old equilibrium that Nature once had.

In The World Upside Down, Licari presents these trees hanging from the ceiling upside down like mirrored, as if the trees were growing downwards from the ceiling. This site-specific installation features the birch trees with their branches stripped from their leaves, in an ultimate effort to reunite again with their leaves, now laying on the floor. The leaves’ smell and their crushing sound from their encounter with the viewer steps complete the installation with a multi-sensorial experience, all to live.

Special thanks to Michael Mark.