Photo by Andrea Rossetti
Title: Trails Rising
Artist: Anne de Vries
Year: 2011
Dimensions: Variable, from 223 cm up to 12 meters high
Materials: Plastic, sand, metal
About:
The sculpted totem poles Trails Rising are composed of sand mixed with epoxy clay, marked by the tread patterns of various sneakers. These imprints—shaped by ergonomic footwear designed to enhance bodily performance—form a record of movement that merges into collective patterns across a mutable surface. The work evokes a sense of shared motion, as if solitary runners converge in a symbolic and physical ascent.
Referencing Constantin Brancusi’s Infinite Column—a WWI memorial in Târgu Jiu symbolizing ascension—the installation reinterprets monumentality through a layered, process-driven lens, challenging essentialist ideas of transcendence and enhancement.
Exhibition views from:
Sandy Brown, Berlin
Éric Hussenot, Paris
Fluxia, Milano
The Composing Rooms, London