Just as dead matter feeds other organisms in nature, so is the phenomenon of “recycling” present in the lives of monuments. This applies both to the sphere of ideas as well as the form and the material. Artists often submit the same design proposal to competitions organised by different authorities to celebrate antagonistic heroes. New monuments are built on old pedestals and the rocks which served as the bases for past monuments are later used as material for new ones. The decay of the matter is sometimes irreversible – marble which is overheated turns into dust, corroded steel crumbles, lichen and algae appear in the cracks of concrete or sandstone, followed by bryophyte, polystichum and flowering plants and, finally, trees whose roots complete the process of destruction.