Welcome to the art project “Sign Your Tree.”

Speech by Christa Sommerer at the Bergschlösslpark in Linz, Austria November 29, 2025

As you probably know, this project concerns 243 old trees in Bergschlössl Park and Ziegeleipark in Linz, Austria. These trees are soon to be cleared to make way for the construction of the A26 motorway, which is to be built right through the middle of Froschberg mountain, right in the middle of the city. The Bergschlösslpark is Upper Austria's oldest botanical garden. It was laid out in 1777 and is home to many valuable old trees and shrubs.

Some of these trees are already a hundred years old and have a crown diameter of up to 25 meters. These trees are true wonders of nature: a single large tree filters, for example, 30-40,000 m³ of air per day and 1 ton of fine dust per year.

We do not want to accept this, especially since the people of Linz were not asked whether they really want to give up and sell these trees, which were publicly owned. Nor were they asked whether it is okay with us that this clearing will severely damage the urban climate and nature for humans and animals.

For this reason, we have launched the art campaign “Sign Your Tree—This Tree is a Work of Art.”

The principle is simple:
Artists make art.
When an artist says, “This is art,” then it is art (more on that later).
We, as a group of different artists, say: These 243 trees are works of art.

To confirm this, we have drawn, painted, and labeled 243 plaques, all with the statement “This tree is a work of art,” dated and signed.

We have received many wonderful designs from artists in Linz and Vienna.

There are already 243 trees marked in red in Bergschlösslpark, in Ziegeleipark next door, in Ziegeleistrasse, but also below the Wissensturm, in the traffic islands where many tall birch trees stand. All these wonderful trees are to be felled, perhaps as early as tomorrow morning.

Anyone who wants to participate in this art project can now decide for themselves how they want to use these self-designed plaques and the trees and shrubs that have already been marked in red. We ask you to decide for yourself how you want to do this, as it is your work of art. We have prepared various materials for this purpose, pens and badges are available here. Please just make sure to write "This tree is an artwork" on the badge and also sign it.

Before you take your badges to the trees, let's get together and arrange our badges on the ground, and lay them out in the shape of a tree. Then we can look at all these wonderful badges together together and take photos of them.

And for those who are interested in the conceptual background of the action and art history:

there are many examples of artists who declared unusual things to be art. Just think of Marcel Duchamp's urinal or his bottle rack, or the French artist Ben, who said, “I sign everything,” and then did so for all kinds of objects. Or the Fluxus artist Yoko Ono, who, with her Instruction Pieces, declared even passing clouds to be art. And finally, of course, the well-known German artist Joseph Beuys, who planted 7,000 oak trees in Kassel as a public work of art. It was also Joseph Beuys who said: “Every human being is an artist” – with this in mind, we would be delighted if you would like to participate in the art project yourself, design and sign the plaques for the trees, and help with the documentation.

Let us protect and appreciate these works of art created by nature.

Postscript:

On December 2, 2025, under massive police presence, the clearing of 243 old trees in Bergschlösslpark, Ziegeleipark, and in front of the Wissensturm began. With incredible brutality, conservationists were prevented from protecting this valuable natural habitat. Despite protests from the population and a petition with 17,000 signatures against this destruction of nature, the brutal clearing went ahead. Conservationists tried for many days to delay the clearing by climbing the trees to prevent them from being felled. An 85-year-old activist waited for a whole day in the freezing cold high up in a tree to save it.
Despite numerous demonstrations, protests, many direct letters to the mayor of Linz, and pressure from the public, this massive destruction of nature went ahead. Of the 243 trees, only stumps remain.

In times of climate crisis, increasing heat stress, and a massive increase in exhaust fumes in the city of Linz, we believe it is absolutely irresponsible to treat the city's nature and our children's future in this way. We demand an end to this environmental destruction caused by the A26 motorway in the middle of the city.

Participating artists:
Christa Sommerer, Laurent Mignonneau, Mariana Nikolai-Pacheva, Doris Miedl-Pisecky, Oswald Miedl, Gabi Gruber, Alex Borek, Katharina Bauer, Nina Wenhart, ...