A new piece revealed by renowned French designer Mathieu Lehanneur channels the vigorous spirit of a body of flowing water. The rippling sheet of solid green marble adopts the appearance of a gushing river, beckoning one to take a dip. The stunning work is installed in a countryside courtyard within Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire Centre d’arts et de Nature, a space reserved for appreciation of both art and nature, and the ideal setting for Lehanneur's display.
Entitled Petite Loire, the artwork is the most recent addition to Lehanneur’s Liquid Marble series, as part of this year’s International Garden Festival. Evoking the shape of the French River Loire, the dynamic installations draws upon the natural elements of the garden, while maintaining the movement of water as the focal point. “It shapes and nourishes the landscape; it passes through without ever pausing along the way. The water whose presence we sense even before we first catch sight of it below the Château, flowing uninterrupted to the sea,” Lehanneur explains.
Created using a single-piece of marble and crafted with 3D software, Petite Loire captures the sense of a gently rippling river which is frozen in time. The designer says: “I hope that, when passing the Château gates, the visitor will experience something that comes close to a magic portal, to a forbidden place in so many fairytales. Everything is liquid in this space, evanescent, enlightened, and yet it is executed in a material that is one of the most solid imaginable.”
The festival and Lehanneur’s artwork will be on display until November 2016.
Mathieu Lehanneur: Website | Facebook
via [designboom]
All images via Michel Giesbrecht.
