CHRISTOPH KELLER Christoph Keller, Introduction | Page 8

CEPPO SRADICATO, 2018
Ceppo sradicato (uprooted tree), 2018
Pine stump
160 x 180 x 250 cm approx.
(CK 268)
Ceppo Sradicato (series of black and white photographs), 2019
Gelatin silver print on Ilford warmtone paper
38 x 56,5 cm each (unframed, 7 parts)
53,6 x 72,1 x 2,8 cm each (framed, 7 parts)
(CK 273)
In Ceppo sradicato (uprooted tree), 2018, the artist reflects on the concepts of migration, national
identity and transplantation, as described by Gilles Clément, among others, in his writings on
landscape theory. During his yearlong residency at the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome,
Keller translocated a maritime pine tree, which had fallen down on the Via Tiburtina in Rome, right in
front of the Campo Verano cemetery, to the Villa Massimo exhibition space.
The overturned root of the sawn pine, resting on the sterile floor of the exhibition space, recalls the
connection of life with the earth, as well as with history: the 80-year old pine tree, characteristic of
the Roman landscape, was planted during the Mussolini era. The process of its translocation was
documented—through a series of seven photographic prints—and became part of its history as well.
The work will change its appearance with time and may partly deteriorate.
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