STUWA : Anthropo-cene by Thierry Boutonnier

STUWA : Anthropo-cene by Thierry Boutonnier

Within the framework of the creation of the landscape garden of the Maison Jean-Jacques Henner in Bernwiller, the artist Thierry Boutonnier imagines Anthropo-cène, a cooperative work that unites trees with a monumental table under the artistic direction of COAL. This “cène”, whose feet and trunks merge, is the symbol of the articulation of orchards and habitats in the Sundgau region. The work invites villagers and walkers to sit down and become the guests* of these trees that connect us to the Earth during great moments of conviviality. The work, a place of life turned towards the future, was commissioned by the commune of Bernwiller.

For its Schéma de Cohérence Territoriale (SCoT), the Sundgau country has the great initiative to give a particular place to orchards. Indeed, its planning and sustainable development project articulates the optimization of land through the mobilization of “hollow teeth” without ” invariably considering as hollow teeth the orchards present within the built frameworks”. Thierry Boutonnier intends to give an artistic form to this will to articulate common orchards with the habitat, to give an importance to this living heritage, from where his proposal of work Antrhopo-cene.

The living table stages our interactions in a “hollow tooth”. It is located between the ground and the tree crown. It creates a space, generates an assembly. It gives form to meetings and exchanges. It refers directly to commensalism*. Non-human beings join our table, the crop trees whose existence depends on our eating behaviors are part of it. The table of interactions tells the story of the love affair that takes place between our lips.

This table offers the possibility of a supper, of a meal taken in common, shared, and allows us to assume the place of the human being in his environment, by committing him to take his responsibilities as to the co-habitation with the non-humans who populate us.

*Commoner: means a person who eats at the same table as one or more others.


Take a look at

LES VICTOIRES, Art trail along the Canal Saint Denis
Luminous strolls at Noirlac Abbey

  • About us
    About us

    COAL mobilizes artists and cultural actors on societal and environmental issues and accompanies the emergence of a new culture of ecology through its actions such as the COAL Prize, curating exhibitions, advising institutions and communities, European cooperation, and the animation of conferences, workshops and the first dedicated website Ressource0.com



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    COAL PRIZE

    COAL has been awarding the COAL Prize Art and Environment every year since 2010 and the COAL Student Prize - Culture & Diversity since 2020.



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    About fifty exhibitions throughout France, cultural actions, works in the public space, and project support to contribute to the emergence of a new culture of ecology.



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    Cooperation programs on a European and international scale, support for institutions in their ecological transition through tailor-made accompaniment and training, promotion of arts and ecology issues through publications and numerous conferences and workshops.