© Yann Monel
The exhibit What Floats highlights the ephemeral beauty of the Hortillonnages and invites visitors to discover the aesthetic and intrinsic qualities of the natural landscape of this cultural heritage. Duckweed is an aquatic plant characterized by leaves without distinct stems. Its Korean name, Bu-Pyeong-Cho, means “that which floats”. In Buddhism, it represents a wandering and timeless existence, just like clouds that drift with the wind. Nothing in life remains fixed or permanent quite like the transient nature of this plant with its floating leaves.
What Floats draws its inspiration from the aesthetic balance between the physical presence and the natural phenomenon by attempting to propagate the duckweed, the destiny of the exhibit is entrusted to the Hortillonnages. The exhibit consists of three metal rings each measuring 6 metres in diameter, that float like anchored buoys.
Inside these rings are colonies of local duckweed, which evolve according to their natural rate of growth. The outer boundary of these habitats floats horizontally to interact with the ever-changing water level while the inner boundary contains an active ecosystem.
These two harmonious natural mechanisms present a profound change of perspective for the visitor, from a vast and uncontrollable hydrological horizon to microscopic plants.
The artist
Kihan Kim