to the artists, designers and craftspeople who think I call their work kitsch... this is NOT the case, it refers to my own work

Sep 28, 2011

art by boat

Hortillonnages
Amiens  2011 
     art, villes & paysage

14 gardens and 14 installations


Rodolphe Keller - en attendant la vague (waiting for the wave)





Frédéric Sanchez - Sept Royaumes (seven kingdoms)





we can't get any closer, I have to zoom in


Doriss Ung - Du ventre jusqu'au ciel






same here, zoom in to view a tiny bit


Atelier Sensomoto - Up Side Down







Collectif Multipleix - Port 157 ouest






Wagon Landscaping - Le Jardin d'Erode


We just happened to read about this art and garden event when stopping in Amiens for the night.  Unfortunately not open the day we were there, and leaving the next morning we couldn't wait until 14h where most of the installations and gardens are accessible.  All pictures were taken from the banks.  More gardens and installations are hidden on other islands in 'Les Hortillonnages'

until 15 October 2011

Sep 27, 2011

Amiens' floating gardens

We're travelling south and stopping for one night in Amiens, Picardie, France.

One can't miss the breathtaking space inside the Cathedral of our Lady of Amiens, the largest gothic cathedral in Europe.



This is the region of the Somme river, where one of the most tragic events of WW I took place.  A commemorative wall to the 600.000 soldiers that were killed in this region.



The labyrinth in Notre Dame d'Amiens cathedral on which devote people would 'walk' on their knees towards the centre while praying.  My husband did it on foot and was busy for quite some time...





I love mazes and labyrinths and by pure chance do we get to experience a particular one...


Les hortillonnages or 'floating gardens', a mosaic of 300 hectares of market and floral gardens.  Countless canals - 65 KM - and little islands, a barge trip with a little 'bayou' feeling.
Dating from the Middle Ages and cultivated by market-gardeners.




hundreds of people have vegetable and flower gardens here











very popular during the good season, little shacks and chalets everywhere



The farmers sell their vegetables (3 crops a year) on the local market



only accessible by boat



every year there is a contest for the nicest flower garden



and some 'island' owners provide funny touches of outsider art









I do spot a land art sculpture and learn that there is more on other islands and on the lakes... will have to find out more...



a few hours later, after dinner on the banks of the Somme, we walk back to the car and see...



two silent immobile figures on the water waiting for something...


waiting for what?   ... I'll tell you tomorrow

Sep 26, 2011

Bestes, Bestiaux et Bestioles

A castle (yes, another one, and there are more to come) with a permanent collection of contemporary art. 



Apart from the permanent collection - of which I will show pictures in future posts - there is a temporarily exhibition.

Bestes, Bestiaux et Bestioles
(I've taken the liberty of translating this into Beasts and Bugs)


Starting with "La Galerie des Chevaux" - 'the horse gallery' which is part of ... the permanent collection.  Yes, I know, a bit confusing to mix both exhibitions...




Georg Ettl  (site in German) - Chevaux d'Oiron
replacing the painted canvases of the favorite horses of Henry II 


kinetic sculpture

Nicolas Darrot - Yggdrasill





The impressive Galerie Renaissance

with the whole story of the Trojan war painted on the walls



animals on the ceiling... which brings us back to the theme of the exhibition...








Thomas Grünfeld - Pégase Licorne
permanent collection





a space entirely clad with mirrors

Nicolas Darrot - Drones
hard to take good pictures because of the mirrors









Yannick Demmerle - drawings









Carole Fékété - Le Singe (the monkey)






Douglas Gordon - Unnaturalhistorie - video
a tiny part of Sol LeWitt in the back, more on that later










Goliath Dyèvre - Chiroptoir
nest for bats accessible from outside, with a flashlight (with dead batteries) to watch the bats through the tiny window.






Greta Alfaro - In ictu oculi - view the whole video HERE - 10min 35 sec





Johan Creten - Muses et Méduses





Goliath Dyèvre - La danse des abeilles (dance of the bees)





Beste, Bestiaux et Bestioles
until 02 October 2011
Château d'Oiron
Centre des monuments nationaux
F-79100 Oiron



related posts

more to come