Nature Added the Last Piece (8 Photos)

Where the setting becomes a co-author

In these eight works, a salvaged trunk, village grass, ivy, flowers, fallen leaves or living plants finish what the artist started. Some keep growing after the artist has gone home.

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📚 De (B)ruilboom — By René Bruns in Ruurlo, the Netherlands 🇳🇱

René Bruns fitted book cupboards into a 350–400-year-old chestnut trunk that had been salvaged after lying in the forest for years. Completed in 2012, De (B)ruilboom is now a public book exchange.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDe (B)ruilboomRené Bruns · 2012 · Ruurlo, NetherlandsTen glass-doored cabinetsSweet chestnut trunkOpened 23 Sep 20121The sweet chestnut, about 350 to 400 years old, had lain in the woods near Huize Ruurlo; Baron van Heeckeren van Kell donated it.René Bruns2About 150 neighbours met for a Burendag breakfast on 23 September 2012, and the tree was unveiled afterwards.Contact Ruurlo201217 SepSet up at its corner · René Bruns201223 SepUnveiled at Burendag · Contact Ruurlo2025AugIn place on Street View · camera dateRead the full file →

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💚 Growing a Heart — By OakOak

OakOak’s painted child raises a watering can toward a heart made from real ivy. The plant supplies the shape, and keeps changing it after the artist leaves. Born in Saint-Étienne, France, OakOak has treated city streets as his playground since 2006, usually turning cracks, holes and stray objects into small comic scenes. Here a living plant does that job.

More: OakOak’s Street Surprises

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🌳 Giant’s Head — By Sue and Pete Hill at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, England 🇬🇧

Sue and Pete Hill formed an earth figure with mind-your-own-business (Helxine soleirolii) across the face and crocosmia for hair. It changes with the seasons. The head and its sleeping neighbor, the Mud Maid, were installed in 1997, while the gardens were still being brought back to life.

💡 Garden Fact: The gardens at Heligan were neglected after the First World War and restored only in the 1990s, after a local resident showed the overgrown site to Tim Smit.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGiant’s HeadSue and Pete Hill · Lost Gardens of Heligan, CornwallWoodland WalkMade 1997 (My Modern Met)1According to My Modern Met, the Hills took about three weeks, spreading local clay over a fallen tree’s root ball.My Modern Met2A visitor in July 2025 said the Giant’s Head put smiles on their faces on the way out.Walking Ways201630 MayPhotographed by Daderot202011 JunMy Modern Met on how it was made202522 JulVisit report · Walking Ways20252 OctHeligan names its makersRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

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🌱 Tapis Rouge! — By Gaëlle Villedary in Jaujac, France 🇫🇷

For Jaujac’s Art and Nature Trail in 2011, Gaëlle Villedary laid 168 rolls of lawn along a 420-meter route through the village. The title means “Red carpet!” but this carpet is green: about 3.5 metric tons of turf, laid to link the heart of the village with the natural areas on either side and to mark ten years of the trail.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTapis Rouge!Gaëlle Villedary · 2011 · Jaujac, France168 rolls of lawnAbout 420 m longArt and nature trail1Cover Magazine counts 168 rolls of greenery laid over about 1,400 feet of the village’s paths.Cover Magazine2It was made for the 10th anniversary of Jaujac’s art and nature trail.It’s Nice That201217 FebProject page with the artist’s text · Landezine201213 MarPhotos by David Monjou published · Code Noir Style201214 MarReported in Italian · GreenMe201229 MarFeatured · It’s Nice ThatRead the full file →

📷 Photo: David Monjou

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👻 Les fleurs sont périssables — By OakOak in Le Locle, Switzerland 🇨🇭

A little painted ghost floats beside a window with a real bouquet in its hand. Its title means “Flowers die,” which gives the yellow blooms a deadline.

💡 Town Fact: Le Locle and neighboring La Chaux-de-Fonds were rebuilt after 19th-century fires around one industry, and UNESCO lists them together as a World Heritage site for watchmaking town planning.

More: OakOak’s Street Surprises

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🐦 Robin on a Mossy Log — By Hannah Bullen-Ryner

Hannah Bullen-Ryner builds a robin from fallen leaves, petals and tiny natural fragments, and sets it on a mossy log. People often ask why she doesn’t make something more permanent. “But for me, it is the ephemeral nature of what I do that has become like therapy for my soul,” she told My Modern Met. She takes a few photos, then walks or cycles away and leaves the work behind.

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🌿 Smoked Gaze — By OMI in Bali, Indonesia 🇮🇩

Two real saplings rise in front of OMI’s painted portrait and overlap the painted hand and ear.

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🌺 THE REAL ESTATE — By Falko

Falko paints the body up to the exact point where a real bougainvillea takes over, so the figure seems to crawl headfirst into the bush. Born in Cape Town, he started painting in 1988 on a high school wall in Mitchells Plain, and elephants are among his favorite subjects.

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The last piece keeps changing

In most of these works, the last piece is still moving. Ivy and saplings keep growing, a bouquet titled “Flowers die” does exactly that, and a robin made of petals can blow apart in a breeze within minutes. If you visit one of these spots, it may already look different from the photo you just saw.

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