The Trees Know Something About You was an intervention on billboards and advertising spaces in Maxdorf, Germany for 10 days in September 2021.

The billboard texts explore the themes of our fall 2021 residency in Maxdorf and the Hello Neighbours workshop. Maxdorf’s history is deeply embedded with the nearby Heidewald forest, and human intervention has largely shaped the current state of the woods. The project imagines that the trees understand the presence of humans, that our lives are inextricably linked.

Billboard Translation:

Image 1: “Your neighbour has roots.
Your neighbour has seeds.
Your neighbour has wings.
Your neighbour has leaves that rustle in the wind.
Your neighbour is a salamander.
The secrets of the heath forest whispers.
You and your neighbours need each other.”

Image 2: “The trees know something about you.”

Image 3: “Be more bee-eater.
Be more fox.
Be more birch.
Be more silvergrass.
Be more poppy mason bee.
Be more red-backed shrike.
Be more cornflower.
Be more lapwing.
BE MORE FOREST CREATURE.
Be more mountain sand drops.
Be more blood-red darter.
Be more great egret.
Be more carthusian pink.
Be more locust blossom.
Be more blue-winged land cricket.
Be more whinchat.”

Image 4: “There is a human story in every tree.”