Of all the interventions one might expect to encounter in the high alpine pastures of Val Badia, a straw path meandering like a serpent across the meadow is perhaps the most surprising and poetic. For the SMACH 2025 biennale, the international open-air art event set against the dramatic backdrop of the Italian Dolomites, architecture and art studio ELSE has conceived ‘Trace of Land’, a profound installation that reimagines the very essence of the landscape. The project transforms the ubiquitous hay bale from a symbol of agrarian industry into a sweeping land art installation that climbs, descents, and leaps with the terrain, leaving a lasting impression on all who walk its length.
From a distance, the work appears as a delicate, continuous line drawn in dry grass, its undulating geometry a direct response to the formidable ridgelines of the surrounding peaks. This sculptural intervention recontextualizes a familiar object, removing it from its purely functional role. The hay bale, once a tightly compressed product of mechanical labor, is unfurled and set free. It becomes a material trace, an expression of the reciprocal relationship between human effort, tools, and nature—a concept central to this year’s SMACH theme, ‘la cu’, the Ladin word for whetstone.
The construction intelligence of Trace of Land lies in its minimal and adaptable lightweight frame. Vertical rebars anchor the structure to the earth, tied together with horizontal steel rods. A surface of wire mesh supports the unfurled hay, which is bound in place with traditional grass ropes. This sustainable design ensures a negligible footprint, allowing the canopy to weave seamlessly into the pasture. At times, it rests directly on the ground; at others, it lifts gently to form shaded passages, creating a rhythm that is both architectural and natural.
Up close, the materiality of the hay comes to life. Its layered, porous fibers filter the mountain light, casting a dappled, golden glow beneath the canopy. This tactile, textured experience feels at once rough and delicate, a testament to the rural craftsmanship and contemporary land art practices that inform the project. The installation enters into a silent dialogue with the nearby ‘tablà’, the traditional wooden barns of the Ladin culture, creating a poignant juxtaposition of the old and the new, the utilitarian and the artistic.
Ultimately, Trace of Land is more than just an installation; it is a meditation on landscape architecture and renewal. It invites visitors to reflect on the cycles of labor that shape our environment and the tools that make it possible. By transforming a simple hay bale into a winding path that echoes the mountain trails, ELSE has created a work that is deeply embedded in its place—a poetic and powerful contribution to the art biennale that blurs the boundary between the artificial and the natural, leaving a trace that feels both ephemeral and eternal.