Tree planting is a familiar activity in the context of documenta. After the "urban forestation" by Beuys and Penone's bronze tree, Carolyn Christov-Bargargiev and Jimmie Durham, supported by garden monument conservator Michael Boßdorf, planted two apple trees in the former orchard area of the Karlsaue on 25 October 2011. "KZ3", the "Korbiniansapfel", commemorated Pastor Korbinian Aigner, who had grown this and other varieties as a prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp.
The tree was destroyed by unknown persons in 2015. What remains is the "Arkansas Black Apple Tree". Its rare fruits of almost black skin reminded Jimmie Durham of his childhood in the USA. The apple tree, part of the ecological dimension of documenta 13, was considered by the artistic director to be a symbol of her exhibition: a symbol of a living organism that gradually takes shape in the interaction of creative energies.
