Alan Sonfist | Seeds of Time

Alan Sonfist, Myself Becoming One With My Tree. Photographic series, 1969.
Alan Sonfist, Myself Becoming One With My Tree. Photographic series, 1969.

Seeds of Time is the first institutional solo exhibition of CAVS Fellow Alan Sonfist in Italy, curated by Marco Scotini. Born in 1946, the American artist Alan Sonfist’s work has always focused on the relationship between art and ecology, pioneering a dialogue that has been influential for both contemporary discourse and the historical context of the Land Art and Earth Art movements. Seeds of Time explores the formative years of Sonfist’s career, focusing on the 1960s and 70s, and highlighting the groundbreaking nature of his work. The exhibition is on view from May 15 – October 15, 2025.

In his work, Sonfist expands the concept of community to include non-human beings and sees his installations as “public monuments” that no longer commemorate human history alone but celebrate the entire natural ecosystem. In doing so, he revitalizes environmental history and the various species in any one location. Describing himself as a visual archaeologist capable of bringing the past into the present, Sonfist frequently collaborates with scientists, biologists, policymakers, urban planners, and architects in a collective process that can last several years before reaching full realization. In contrast to other Land Art artists, Sonfist has always focused on the interaction of nature within urban ecosystems— a concept considered radical at the time: this has led him to view the present as a complex ecosystem rooted not only in human history but also in that of plants, animals, and minerals.

Seeds of Time opens with a newly commissioned installation produced especially for this exhibition. Growth Between the Cracks (2025) emerged from the active involvement of the local community invited by the artist to collect soil samples from the liminal spaces around the city of Turin. The installation maps a fragmented outline of the city and narrates its history through the plants – both indigenous and from other geographical areas – that will grow throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, "American Earth Landscape" in Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.
Alan Sonfist, Seeds of Time. Exhibition views, 2025. PAV Parco Arte Vivente. Courtesy of the artist.

The exhibition also presents a core selection of photographs documenting some of Sonfist’s early environmental interventions, beginning with his renowned Time Landscape (1965 – ongoing). Designed in Manhattan, New York City, in collaboration with a large community of experts, Time Landscape consists of a forest of precolonial plants, which over the years has become home to numerous plant and animal species – a living public monument in continuous transformation. In Circles of Time (1986), one of Sonfist’s most ambitious and complex projects, the artist documents the history of the Tuscan landscape through seven concentric rings, each representing a different phase in the land use.

The exhibition also showcases core photographs documenting Sonfist’s performative works from the early stages of his career, when the artist sought a physical, bodily connection with elements of nature. Sonfist engages in embracing trees of varying sizes, testing the proportions between his own body and the tree trunks (Myself Becoming One with the Tree, 1969), or identifying with the bark of a tree and comparing its surface to that of his own skin (Myself Becoming the Tree, 1970). In another series of photographs, under the title Animal Fantasy, Sonfist uses himself as the subject in order to study animal behavior, turning into an animal—a tiger in Tiger Chance Kill (1972–74) or a gorilla in Territorial Gorilla Invasion (1972–73).

Sonfist was a forerunner of a form of ecological thinking that remains highly relevant today: advocating for nature and animals to be regarded as subjects equal to human beings. Through his early works, Seeds of Time raises urgent contemporary questions: What value systems do communities choose to pass down? How ethical is the relationship between existing and created nature? And how can the social responsibility towards the environment we inhabit be equitably shared?

Alan Sonfist (New York, USA, 1946) lives and works in New York City. A pioneer of Land Art, his recent, most notable exhibitions include Celestial Landscape at the Parrish Museum, South Hampton (2026 upcoming); Indigenous Landscape at the Beijing International Art Biennale (2025); Microorganism Landscapes at Triennale Milano (2025); Burning Forest at the Contemporary Art Centre, Raleigh (2024); and Working with Nature – Environmental Landscapes at Wave Museum, Seoul (2023). Amongst his most well-known site specific works are the Landmark sculpture Time Landscape (1965–present), New York City’s first urban forest artwork, and Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974 (MOCA Los Angeles & Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2012). His artworks are present in major museum collections including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, and the Ludwig Museum. He exhibited in the Documenta 6 and the Venice Biennale. In 2023 he founded Land Art Forward, which aims to unite artists, scientists, and engaged citizens in the collaborative creation of environmental art projects. The foundation’s mission is to raise awareness of pressing ecological issues through innovative, site-specific artworks that foster a deeper connection between people and the natural world.

Marco Scotini is an Italian curator, writer and art critic based in Milan. He is artistic director of the FM Center for Contemporary Art in Milan. Since 2004, he has been Head of the Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies Department at NABA, Milan. Since 2014 he has been Head of Exhibitions Program at Parco Arte Vivente, Turin. He has collaborated with art institutions as Documenta, Manifesta, Van Abbemusuem, SALT, Museo Reina Sofia, Castello di Rivoli, Nottingham Contemporary, MIT, Raven Row, Ludwing Múzeum Budapest, MSU Zagreb and Bildmuseet Umeå.

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