Reflecting Points, a continuation of Open Mind Places in Sauerland, is a collaborative initiative by BDA Kassel for documenta fifteen. Scattered throughout Kassel during the summer of 2022, these installations fostered spaces for encounters and meaningful communication.

By intertwining art, environment, and community, the project aimed to inspire environmental action and promote societal exchange, encouraging visitors to rethink their relationship with nature and one another. One of the Reflecting Points, called Maria, serves as a space for remembrance, and togetherness.

It consists of seven spruce trunks, which, if stacked on top of one another, would reconstruct the full height of the original tree. This tree was planted 125 years ago by Christoph Hesse’s great-grandmother Maria, when she was a little girl. Unfortunately, the majestic tree died in 2021, killed by a plague of bark beetles caused by climate change. Therefore, it is a monument for reflection, a place to think about how people can slow down and counteract climate change. After its presentation at documenta fifteen, Maria was dismantled, stored, and later rebuilt in Referinghausen, where it now forms an integral part of the Open Mind Places installations.