Carbon (C, Latin: carboneum) ranks fourth among the most abundant elements in the Universe. It has the ability to form very long chains containing CC bonds and creates more compounds than all other chemical elements combined. These properties of carbon make it the chemical basis of life. Significant amounts of it are also found in fossil fuels, substances formed from dead organisms that have been buried underground for hundreds of millions of years and have decomposed. Silesia is a region abundant in both carbon-based life forms and rich fossil fuel resources. In this context, a work titled "Earthworks – Carboneum" will be created in the Walenty Roździeński Square in Katowice, commemorating the billions of dead plants that gave us their carbon molecules, thus enabling humanity to exploit fossil fuels, which contributed to the development of civilisation. As we know, this process also has its downside, related to the threats posed by greenhouse gas emissions, which have serious consequences for nature and the functioning of societies.