A groundbreaking land art installation called "Trace of Land" is reimagining the traditional hay bale as a sculptural canopy that winds through the breathtaking pastures of Val Badia in Italy's Dolomites mountain range. Created by ELSE Design, this innovative project transforms ordinary agricultural objects into an architectural structure that follows the natural contours of the alpine terrain, providing visitors with shaded spaces for rest, gathering, and contemplation.
The installation is being presented as part of SMACH 2025, an international open-air art biennale that showcases cutting-edge outdoor artistic works. The project takes the form of a continuous pathway created from unfurled hay bales that move fluidly with the landscape's natural curves and elevations. By removing the hay bale from its traditional farming function, ELSE Design has transformed it into both a sculptural and architectural element that draws attention to the complex relationship between human labor, agricultural tools, and the land itself.
"Trace of Land" serves as a powerful site for reflection on the intersection of land use and human labor practices. While hay bales are often viewed as iconic symbols of traditional rural life, they are actually products of modern industrialized agricultural processes, created, stored, and transported using sophisticated machinery. In this installation, ELSE Design has loosened and reshaped this industrial form, creating a dynamic structure that alternates between resting directly on the ground and lifting gently upward to form shaded passages and walkways.
The temporary canopy created by the installation effectively mediates between the efficiency demands of modern agriculture and the natural beauty of the alpine setting. ELSE Design Studio's work aligns perfectly with SMACH 2025's central theme of "la cu," which is the Ladin word for whetstone—a traditional tool used to sharpen harvesting blades. This theme emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between human work and the landscape, highlighting how tools and labor shape and are shaped by the environment.
Visitors to the installation are encouraged to walk both along and beneath the sculptural structure, using rectangular hay bales that have been strategically arranged as seating areas where they can pause and reflect on the artwork's meaning. The interactive nature of the piece allows people to experience the installation from multiple perspectives, creating a deeper connection between the viewer and the artistic statement about agricultural practices and land use.
As time progresses, the hay material will naturally decompose and break down, eventually returning to the soil and completing a full cycle of use, transformation, and renewal. This natural decomposition process reinforces the installation's central dialogue about cultivation, environmental transformation, and the ongoing relationship between human activity and the natural world, making "Trace of Land" a living artwork that evolves throughout its exhibition period.
