Sculptures on the island, Return to the Sources, a journey of works in Andrésy

Who has never answered the question “What would you take with you to a desert island?” in order to imagine the essentials that would enable us to rebuild a new world? Going back to the basics, then, and making with what is within our reach, experimenting with vernacular practices, working with present materials, testing new possibilities of creating, acting and interacting … These are the intentions of the ten artists invited to make the island Nancy their playground.

Invited because of their knowledge of the material, their craft skills and their ability to generate commonality, the artists of the 26th edition of Sculpture en île create with the resources of Andrésy, whether they are natural or from reuse.

Some of them take over the poetics of the island: First work of the course, the installation ofAdelaide Feriot at the Gare Saint Lazare promises travelers the discovery of a new horizon with shimmering colors; a woodworking enthusiast, Sara Favriau creates a pirogue from a tree trunk of the island Nancy and summons in an image, desire of escape and temptation of the distant, to which the invitation of Laurent Pernot to take “the Time to Live” echoes… To this call to reconnect, the habitat proposed by Tatiana WolskaThis is a living and organic architecture, and it is a perfect fit.

Other artists formulate proposals that invite us to follow the formidable cycle of life. Louis Guillaume thus composes a work in two parts, with the black poplar, an emblematic species of the river ecosystems, yet disappeared from Nancy Island. The spectacular and delicate light installation ofErik Samakh plunges us at nightfall into a fairy tale, evoking the magical presence of insects, but also their fragility and disappearance; as for Jonas Delhaye, he imagines a sound system made of bird calls reproducing the song of birds, which resounds here like the cry/song of alarm of an inaudible and endangered biodiversity. Listening to the living, it will also be a question with the acoustic cornet of Laurent Tixadormade exclusively with the earth of the island.

Finally, artists work from recovered objects, eco-gesture par excellence: Thierry Boutonnier, accompanied by Eva Habasque and the local association Le Cri de la terre, is creating a monumental work, a bridge of sighs of the present time, made of 7000 used plastic bottles collected on the banks of the Seine and from local residents and businesses. As for Margaux Fontaine, it is from recovered sheets on which she writes the wishes of the inhabitants for a better future, that she imagines a new kind of castle, a place of meditation and meditation in the middle of the woods.

The eleven works scattered along the water and the forest trail are mixed with eleven observation points of biological, geological and ecosystemic features, thus composing a dynamic dialogue between works of culture and nature.

Sobriety, inventiveness, attention to the environment, sharing knowledge and know-how with the public … This new edition of Sculpture en l’île experiments a new collective narrative, and promotes a culture of change, joyful and generous!

The 26th edition of Sculptures en l’île has been curated by COAL and implemented by Lauranne Germond, co-founder and director of the association COAL, Sara Dufour, associate curator and Jessica Leclercq, project manager.

Contemporary art trail Sculptures en l’Ile
Back to the roots
From June 1st to October 1st on the Ile Nancy
Free entrance, access by boat at the Julien Green pier, 4 Boulevard Noel Marc in Andrésy

> Consult the schedules and conditions of access to the Ile Nancy

> More information on the website of the city of Andrésy