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The 7000 Eichen of Joseph Beuys – experiences after twenty-five years

Körner, Stefan / Bellin-Harder, Florian

This article arose from a study made on the occasion of documenta 12 (2007), looking back after twenty-five years to the planning and subsequent maintenance of Joseph Beuys's work of art 7000 Eichen (7,000 oaks) in Kassel. Within the framework of Beuys's understanding of action art and social sculpture, the care of the trees was understood to be an integral part of the planning of the piece. observations on the trees’ current condition provide an opportunity to trace the history of the idea through to its consequences for the theory and practice of tree planting and maintenance. in this way, we see that the work of art reads less as a coeval entity; rather, the trees tell different stories of the project's development with lost trees and new plantings, trees that have been neglected for twenty-five years contrasted with examples reflecting meticulous, age-appropriate arboricultural maintenance. Even during Beuys's lifetime the 7000 Eichen campaign provoked a strongly polarized debate about urban vegetation. this article is a reflection on the relationship between art and nature, planning and politics, neighbourhoods and administration – not in an attempt to see which side was right or wrong, but rather to determine the condition of the piece today, and also which planting and maintenance techniques have proven to work and which have not.