The project of La Cale is part of the process of building and maintaining artificial islands. The soil dredged from the bottom of the water is brought to the surface and fills islands with supported banks. The diversion of this traditional technique leads the artists to a device: a simple wooden wedge which transports the silt extracted with the sole force of the arms to build megaliths of earth, symbol of the Hortillonnages. A metaphor for the perpetual struggle of the site with their direct environment.
The very nature of the Hortillonnages, this shaped, maintained, classified but unconditionally precarious landscape gives food for thought. The inclined plane of the slipway which rises from the surface of the water to gain height on the bank also tells of the instability of this environment, that of floods, depending on the season or even the general rise in water levels. The shrinking wedge, the weakening banks are variables to anticipate in the long term. Thus the visitor is led to project himself, to become aware of the place he is visiting and the consequences of climate change on it: reduced, raised, disintegrated or even disappeared Hortillonnages.
At its end, the newly piled up mound reveals its strata and its sediments: its anatomy, but also its fragility and instability. The top of the mound hosts the pioneer species of the riparian forest: salix, fraxinus, alnus… This hanging garden bears witness to the fragility of the islands and the importance of maintaining alluvial ecosystems. It will perhaps become the surviving island of tomorrow… Its use is intended to be twofold, an installation that is as evocative as it is functional. The new jetty is a device for rising, exploring the heart of an island from another angle. But it is also an installation that encourages contemplation of the environment in which it is located.
The artist
Les Marneurs & Collectif Dallas