OLIVE TREE
The ancient olive tree with roots, by virtue of its intrinsic aesthetics, is a work of art designed by nature. As a result, it took a while to approach the object with respect and sensitivity. The idea started by restoring the olive tree to its full splendour – branches, leaves and fruit.

POMPEII
Volcanic soil is particularly fertile, which prompted the obvious idea of placing the olive tree on a pedestal made of lava volcanic ash in which the silhouettes of bodies and skulls are shown. In fact, olive trees and volcanic soils are connected by a landscape and a history: Campania, the antique city of Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The intensive eruption of Mount Vesuvius surprised some of the inhabitants of Pompeii in their sleep. The victims were buried alive under the shower of ash leaving behind their sculpture-like stone shells. A few individual pairs were preserved in a lovingly close sleeping position – also a work of art of nature, if you wish. This provided the inspiration for this working title.

THE LOVERS OF POMPEII
Next, the idea arose to depict two lovers on the basis of Body Obsessed and to place the object into the hollow trunk of the olive tree: The sleeping lovers could be shown in the spooning position and, depending on the vantage point, could be mirrored on the surface in an interplay of real and imaginary.