Reading Rämistrasse #161: Olena Iegorova on Michel Comte in the Dietikon forest

Along a three-kilometer forest trail in Dietikon, the art intervention CLEARINGS emerges from a collaboration between Michel Comte and Yuichi Kodai and is part of the Art Flow project. The work was catalysed by their mutual fascination with the Katsura Imperial Gardens, a masterpiece of Japanese architecture and landscape design, where built structures stand in harmony with the environment without overpowering it. Rooted in the admiration for this iconic place, CLEARINGS was conceived as a conversation among art, architecture and nature.

The intervention takes the visitor on a walk through the forest, where copper-clad stumps and trunks – some tiny, almost shy, others grand and unmissable – punctuate the trail. Smaller pieces act like milestones on the way to the giants, nearly camouflaged, their polished surfaces catching rays of sun breaking through the shadows. Copper sheathes, like second skins, gently envelop weathered trees, allowing them to tell their stories while blending with the landscape. Each tree, carefully chosen at the end of its life cycle, becomes a powerful symbol of transformation and memory.

Historically valued for its resilience and transformative properties, copper serves a dual role, being a medium of preservation and a witness to decay. Transforming through oxidation, it protects the plants from parasites.The moss, deliberately left untouched at the bases of the trunks, is another quiet participant in the exchange. The intervention, drawn from the Japanese tradition of curated ecosystems, alters the landscape, subtly directing how decay is perceived rather than letting it unfold freely. Acknowledging this tension between human control and natural flow, the work conveys the message that even the slightest change is an act that calls for responsibility and purpose.

As I approached one of the copper-covered 'towers', I looked up and was struck by the patch of blue sky framed by the pines around me. This opening, the absence of the tree’s crown where the canopy of leaves once flourished, an antiform, was now a part of the artwork – an equally powerful presence. To me, it spoke to the duality of what remains and what has been lost that lies at the heart of CLEARINGS. Viewers stand small before the immense presence of nature, even its remnants; the artwork elicits an acute awareness of scale – both physical and temporal.

Temporality is woven into every element of it. As the sun moves across the sky, the copper’s reflections shift, transforming the light and inviting visitors to fully engage with the present moment. The involvement of local schoolchildren in clearing the area signals a future where responsibility for nature lies in the hands of those who inherit it. Ultimately, temporality extends beyond the artwork’s creation, residing in its very format – it is not a set of objects to be viewed, but a journey to be experienced.

CLEARINGS does not dictate answers but invites one to look closer and contemplate. Whether it fosters deeper environmental consciousness or aesthetic appreciation depends on the viewer’s perspective – by design, the artwork remains open to interpretation. Yet, at its core, it unfolds as a walking meditation on time, nature and our place within it.

CLEA­RINGS, Michel Comte, until the end of 2025, Röhrenmoosstrasse, 8953 Dietikon