For some plants dormancy corresponds to a temporary stop in their growth, a stop that may be caused by seasonal conditions such as winter weather. For this installation project, Frédéric Saia proposes to observe a tree's passage from a forced state of dormancy to that of budding, all within the time span of the exhibition. Even though the artist's interventions mostly take place outdoors and in natural sites, the work of appropriating the site is not limited to the wild habitat. It is in this sense that “Dormance et persistence” is rooted in another territory-the gallery's-in order to draw the public into an observation and one-off contemplation experience of an ongoing process. The ice armature of the yellow birch, a tree reputed for its resistance in its natural environment, will melt away over the course of the days as it slowly fill the basin surrounding it and gives way to increasingly vigorous grow. In the manner of an ecosystemic allegory, this ten-year old tree displays its strong adaptive capacity to critical conditions within the territory imposed upon it.
Viewed as a mainspring for work and research, the artist uses the tree for its specific qualities as a living organism that evolves through hardiness in order to survive. Like a natural readymade the nearly budding tree echoes our capacity to adapt to the territory and climate we live in. Inspired by the process-based qualities of Slow art, the artist invites us to partake “in a ritual around a plant artwork that transports us into another temporality: the tree's.”
Aseman Sabet, trad. Bernard Schutze
Dormance et persistance — Photo F. C.
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