Die Wurzel, 2025
Dolomite limestone, travertine
285 cm x 155 cm x 105 cm

Die Wurzel ("The Root" in German) is a permanent public commission in the garden of the BDG  -Bundesverband Deutscher Gartenfreunde (Federal Association of German Allotment Gardeners) - in Berlin-Neukölln.

The sculpture takes the form of a potato, the tuber that fed the newly settled factory workers who, relocated from the countryside in the 19th century, gave rise to Germany's first community gardens. It is sliced in the manner of Bratkartoffeln, the pan-fried dish Germans traditionally cook the day after boiling potatoes, so as not to waste the leftovers.

The potato itself is carved from German Dolomite limestone; its base is a weathered slab of travertine : a stone often called "petrified garden," porous and riddled with cavities left by decomposed plant matter. Together they form a habitat: insects and plants colonize both the drilled holes of the potato and the natural pores of the travertine base.

Permanently installed at Hermannstr. 186, in the backyard garden.