L'anatomie du jardin, 2018. Land art project at the Botanical garden of Marnay-sur-Seine, France. Willow branches. Object 80 x 75 x 60 cm (31.5 x 29.5 x 23.6 in) placed in a water pond.
Photo credit Abril M Barruecos
The inspiration for L'anatomie du jardin (Anatomy of the garden) came from a research on the underground relationships of trees, conducted by the ecologist Suzanne Simard. In her research Simard shows that below the earth there are vast networks of roots working with fungi to move water, carbon, and nutrients among trees of all species. According to her, these complex, symbiotic networks mimic human neural and social networks and remind us a “sort of intelligence”.
In L'anatomie du jardin, the garden is not just a place where plants and trees grow. It is a place, full of life, communication and underground relationships. It is a single living organism with its own anatomy.
An object, which is created by natural materials – willow branches, is plunged into a water pond with the aim to visually submerge in the environment. The ability of the willow branches, if freshly cut and plunged into water, to grow and eventually become a tree, was used to present the idea of a living organism.
Pictures have been taken within a course of a couple of months to observe the changes on the object and on the environment.