Archive (tree) was created in 1996 as a site-specific installation in the sculpture garden of the Kunst Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The remainder of a former guard tower forms one of the corners of the perimeter wall of the sculpture park. A Large tree had grown to maturity in this site, and had–at the time of the project–been recently cut level to the ground. Peterman excavated the underground portion of the trunk and roots then installed a decking of post-consmer plastics along with two simple benches that transformed the architectural "ruin" and cut tree into a peaceful site of contemplation. Archive (tree) activates several material trajectories and time-frames, as it contrasts the organic limb-like forms of the excavated tree with the aging, and slowly decaying brick structure. A companion work, created simultaneously from the remains of the plastic planking consists of an unopenable storage trunk–now part of the Museum Abteiberg's permanent collection.
