When the fruit has been picked and the colorful leaves have fallen, the trees in the orchard begin to resemble one another. Their branches and trunks merge with the grey-brown tones of the landscape. As if petrified, they stand ready for their winter rest. In spring, they bud and burst into bloom. A trained eye can distinguish a plum from an apricot, but the uninitiated passerby simply delights in the dance of petals and intoxicating scents.

To help visitors recognize individual trees throughout the year, we marked them with plaques that offer information about the species, variety, and the place from which the graft or sapling originated. Hanging from the branches are dark blue enameled plates with colored circles that immediately indicate the type of fruit — apricots are orange, cherries red, and figs blue.

Gregor first invited me to collaborate when I was in Kyoto, in a renovated old Japanese house. It was September, and the shadows of golden-yellow leaves flickered across the shōji screens. When we met again in Kojsko, the trees were already completely bare, silent; only the wind relentlessly moved their branches.

The tree markers are conceived as moving elements — not merely static carriers of information, but objects that gently chime in the wind and reflect the glow of the full moon; that color the grey image of the winter orchard and add another layer to the visitor’s experience of this unique space. Their mobility introduces a subtle unpredictability into the orchard. At times they are perceived only as a brief sound, at others as a flicker of sunlight, responding to wind, light, and the seasons, and together with the trees co-creating the orchard’s ever-changing appearance.

Enameling is a very old technique for protecting and decorating metal objects: a coating of glass powder, fused at high temperatures, forms a durable and remarkably beautiful surface. In our region, however, the craft — and the desire to use enamel — has somewhat faded; all the more reason why its presence here, alongside the stories of old tree varieties, feels particularly valuable.