The owner, the walker and the gardener

The owners planted, nature took its time. …Then the premises changed hands. The user’s walk replaced the owner’s stroll: The idealised panoramic view of the estate gave way to a new representation of the park.

His step not detecting the slightest change, the walker imperceptibly slips from street to footpath. Inside, as outside, the space is marked out by urban furniture. Led by a network of paths, the stroller is certain that he will not lose his way, and that with this substitute of nature, he will avoid any obstacle. This domesticated natural world makes him to daydream…Then the romantic vision of the park is perturbed by contemporary interventions. The eye focuses on a sign, a fence, a label: the reverie is torn apart.

The neat picturesqueness allows organisation and methodical work to become apparent: The sound of the horticulturists’ activities surround the premises. In the foreground, everything which is supposed to disappear for the benefit of the result is expressed: sacrificial, warrior-like, greedy, protective gestures…

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