Body Decomposition Island (BDI) Glass tank, soil, fish bones, plants 55 × 20 × 30 cm 2025

When a mammal dies and is buried in the ground, the processes of decomposition alter the soil chemistry. Plants respond to this. At first, nothing grows at the burial site, but over time, as the bones begin to break down and the soil becomes more alkaline, vegetation appears and its growth becomes noticeable more active.

The bones of a sea bass were dried, ground into meal, and buried in the centre of the aquarium, in soil brought from the local mountains, together with seeds of endemic plants. Over time, the fish “takes root” in the aquarium.