About
Psyche and Commerce: The Realignment of the Nail–Tree Talisman breathes life back into the Nail-Tree (aka ‘Der Stock im Eisen’) by placing it back into its native environment, a spruce forest. It proposes another stage of expansion, which is indicative of our actions towards climate change and now the global pandemic. It begs to question, 'Is there a more holistic approach which All of Us can take towards nature?'
The actual building has a very different story. It was financed by US Dollars around 1890 for the Equitable Life Assurance Society in America and demonstrated the first expansion of globalism during the second wave of the industrial revolution. The building was by all means to be a status of wealth and power. Though the nail-tree and the building originate from entirely different ideologies, histories and countries, they were made inseparable as the 20th Century unfolded.
This project begins with a Nail-Tree Talisman from 1548, which is protected under glass in the exterior corner of the prestigious Palais Equitable Building. Nails were hammered into it for various reasons that reflect Austria's customary traditions of 16th-18th century blacksmiths upon leaving the city. Mystical beliefs, which were rather common throughout South Eastern Europe and the Middle East, implied a wound would be healed through the transference of energy metaphysically, via the nail. In any case, Vienna’s oldest landmark serves both as a symbol for the City's Mythical Center and a marker for its local expansion.
