FOSSIL | Mathieu Nouhen

The stake, the only vestige of man's passage through this landscape. A simple, identifiable and useful rural act. Through the simple arrangement of its, we define space, symbols, boundaries and directions.

It is the passage of man which creates force, abnormality, absurdity. We symbolize a present or past presence. It is a form oriented towards humans, but also towards the other inhabitants of this agricultural territory, those who will witness the change. In the eyes of man, the symbol is close to an archaic art, flirting with the codes of the sacred and the mystical.

The method used here is Shou Sugi Ban. This technique resonates with the volcanic territory and gives a dense and earthy character to the spiral. It creates density and chromatic contrast within the site: the green of late spring, the yellow of the summer pastures. The stakes are all beveled toward the center, shimmering in the landscape, accentuating the shape.

This spiral with four centers, the symbolic form of the fossil, represents the passage of time. The temporal flow of the relationship between the landscape and the raw elements that shape it. Through this particular arrangement of the issues, a form is created, a message appears.

This arrangement guides and induces a path towards the center. Little by little, a trace is created, lines of desire are formed. When the structure was dismantled, we were able to observe the passage of 13,122 visitors, like a fossil. A trace, yet another mark of our passage, which will also fade away.