One Tree ID - Salix alba, Mänttä, 2025

Foto : Agnes Meyer-Brandis

One Tree ID - Salix alba

The silver willow (Salix alba 'splendens sibirica' ) in Serlachius Manor Park is almost 100 years old. It was selected and planted in the park in the 1930s by Paul Olsson, the garden architect who designed the park.  

The trees communicate with each other. This happens in the atmosphere through volatile organic compounds and in the soil through their root systems and mycorrhizal networks.  Agnes Meyer-Brandis has developed a way to "Become a Tree for Another Tree" using One Tree ID perfume.  

The perfumes are made by isolating the VOCs secreted by the leaves, trunk and roots of the tree( The Making off Salix alba see blog entry here). The samples have been analysed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The tree's own VOC identity has been transformed into a fragrance by perfumer Marc vom Ende. You can brush the perfume on your skin and start a conversation with the silver willow. 

Meyer-Brandis got the idea for the artwork in 2014 during the Climate Whirl residency at the Hyytiälä Forest Station. VOC emissions are one of the station's research areas. One Tree ID has since been realised in 22 different exhibitions and locations, including Beijing, Berlin, Moscow, Munich, Daejeon, South Korea, Estonia and Luxembourg. For each exhibition, a new perfume has been developed from a locally grown tree. 

It would be interesting to know what the elderly silver willow has seen and experienced in its lifetime in Mänttä!

Credits: Realized in collaboration with: Kaisa Rissanen, Department of Forest Sciences and Ecosystem Processes (INAR Forest Science) at the University Helsinki, FI, Marc vom Ende, Senior perfumer, Serlacius Museums, Mänttä, FI  in the scope of the solo exhibition "As Trees Go By" oif Agnes Meyer-Brandis" at the Serlachius Museum Mänttä, FI, 12th April 2025 - 19th April 2026.

Fotos: Ulla Taipale and Serlachius / Sampo Linkoneva.