Installed on one of the cabins of the islets in the Hortillonnages and made up of wooden stelae to echo the natural environment and scalariform structures of the site, Escalade consists of building a wooden staircase that passes through the cabin; the first steps are arranged at the entrance, at the height of the public from the ground, then rise higher and higher, finally getting lost in the foliage and branches.
The in situ installation is intended to be interactive with the viewer, who can access the first steps. Their presence questions them: what is this trace of civilization doing in this remote and isolated environment? Is this structure destined to disappear, or to remain permanently? The device is all the more intriguing as one walks around the cabin, thus discovering the continuity of the few steps seen before.
The sculptural dimension comes into play in the verticality of the structure, as well as in this form of elevation that blends into the trees. Interrupting the horizontality of the Hortillonnages landscape, the whole Alice Guillaume, Kathleen Cools, Charlyne Bazille, Stelina Alidor, Flavie Gallet, Sarah Benfifi, Paco Le Cam maintains a part of mystery in this immersive and visual experience, thus reconnecting man and nature.
The artist
(Français) Collectif Movilis