CONTROL OF NATURAL SPACE

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The starting point of the work was the observation of how stones are placed in public space. The considerable effort involved in positioning them, their weight and handling, reveals the means by which we intervene in natural environments, alter them, and relocate their components. This act points to human capacities not only to use landscape, but to actively rewrite it.

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The starting point of the work was the observation of how stones are placed in public space. The considerable effort involved in positioning them, their weight and handling, reveals the means by which we intervene in natural environments, alter them, and relocate their components. This act points to human capacities not only to use landscape, but to actively rewrite it.

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Part of these interventions can be seen in the installation of rockfall nets to stabilize cliffs and walls. They prevent movement while protecting infrastructure and human safety. Such measures alter the landscape and leave lasting traces of human activity, serving as markers of the Anthropocene and illustrating the ways we shape and manage natural environments.

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Part of these interventions can be seen in the installation of rockfall nets to stabilize cliffs and walls. They prevent movement while protecting infrastructure and human safety. Such measures alter the landscape and leave lasting traces of human activity, serving as markers of the Anthropocene and illustrating the ways we shape and manage natural environments

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This image shows a drill hole channel created for controlled rock blasting, also in alpine areas. It reveals how human interventions deliberately influence and organize natural structures.

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Part of this transformation involves altering natural spaces to the point where it is often no longer clear what is originally natural and what results from human intervention. This blurring not only shapes the landscape today, but will also influence future generations’ perception and understanding of ‘nature

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Part of this transformation involves altering natural spaces to the point where it is often no longer clear what is originally natural and what results from human intervention. This blurring not only shapes the landscape today, but will also influence future generations’ perception and understanding of ‘nature.

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The shadow areas bear witness to rockfalls and the movement of material, often only subtly perceptible. Their fleeting forms change with the position of the sun, making the dynamics of the landscape visible. It is a rather invisible observation, yet one that reveals the constant transformation of natural spaces.

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Through repeated walks, observations of new rock formations and shifting shadows emerge. CONTROL OF NATURAL SPACE reads these barely perceptible changes as signs of gradual processes and places them in contrast with human protective measures and material traces left in the landscape.

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Like two fingers, the excavator bucket holds an 800 kg stone, seemingly effortlessly. This image points to the evolution of machinery and the continuous expansion of human capabilities in handling natural materials.

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Through photography, I was also able to capture processes of change and the force they generate, processes that often remain hidden due to their speed

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I used the different forms of the shadow areas as a negative to create a physical object. The result is an autonomous stone composed of plaster, natural rock, and industrial waste such as slag. It makes visible the interaction between humans and nature, showing how natural processes and human interventions intertwine, leave traces, and shape the landscape.

CONTROL OF NATURAL SPACE

This project is a candidate for PhMuseum 2026 Photography Grant