Artist: Martin Romeo

000-nn19

The green heart of Forte Marghera, a former gunpowder depot near Venice, is undergoing a gradual transformation. Its local flora, once thriving, is now facing a dramatic decline as the soil gradually loses its life-sustaining properties and can no longer support the exponential growth of vegetation. A detailed survey of the fort’s northwestern sector has identified 54 trees marked for removal, their structural integrity irreparably compromised by time and environmental conditions.
These data, drawn from a publicly available technical report, were subsequently transformed into a data visualization that, echoing the approach of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, meticulously preserves and documents each individual specimen.
For each tree, the botanical species, dimensional characteristics (height and trunk diameter), and identification number are archived, with the aim of restoring memory and value to every plant destined for removal.
A life-size screen print illustrates the absence these trees will leave in the landscape, physically marking the void of their presence on the ground. In parallel, a reconstructed forest within a dense vegetated area symbolically preserves these lost trees through more than 1,500 carefully selected specimens, maintained between lagoon and mainland.
This symbolic and memorial gesture seeks to restore ecological continuity and collective memory, reflecting on the value of time, care, and environmental responsibility.

Dimensions: 100×100 cm
Technique: white screen print on black, through-dyed MDF
Year: 2020