Based on individually recorded encounters with a seer, a businesswoman, a cultural animator, a restorer, an ethologist, a flight instructor, a gardener and a grinder, “Rêve Topiaire” is a sound piece that builds the vision of an imaginary garden, from notions of property and identity.

Through a hallucinatory state that speaks of an external landscape, but also of a psychological landscape, the sound work pays attention both to the content of a given utterance and to the way it is uttered. The result is an invitation to enter the psychology of a polyvocal gardener influenced by socio-economic references between neo-liberalism, aristocracy and colonial botany.

The piece was curated for the exhibition “Une Communauté Imaginée”, curated by Miguel Amado, at Frac Pays de La Loire, in the context of Ateliers Internationaux, opening in March 2022.

Special thanks to Anne Raillard, Daniel Arnaud, Fabien Marzelière, Freddy Guédot, Gwenola Furic, Henri Griffon, Jérémy Heurtin, Marie Andrieu, Olivier Testu, Samuel Marzelière, Sébastien Garcia, Tiphaine Khouri, Miguel Amado, Arthur Chiron, Aéroclub de Loire- Atlantique, Breiz Inox, Jardin des plantes de Nantes, Tête Haute, Tipi, Frac Pays de La Loire and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Rêve Topiaire [Topiary Dream], 2022
Stereo sound transferred to vinyl record, 8’14”
Turntables and speakers, green light

Language: FR, EN

It's not the first time you've been together.
You are from the same family.
What is happening ?

I will set myself apart.
I will forget you.
I allow myself to receive.
I welcome.

The place you are,
You are in a military, catholic and royal place.
We are refractory,
We are cautious about everything that comes from centralism.
It is a form of passion for the future.
That's it !

Why are you touching me?
What do you expect from me?

They have a hierarchy.
It takes a leader to keep things calm.
They have no relation to time, nor to objectives.
Calm, they bend their ears,
They blow, we give them a caress.

The dream is everything that is invisible.
There is no truth.
It is we who create our luck.

As soon as we take off we see the sea,
Everything is much closer.
We see the islands.
Everything is close, everything is fast.
Trust only the instruments.
when you enter a cloud,
We're going to have what we call sensory illusions.
Trust only the instruments.

There are often ghosts.
A newborn baby with scars.
A couple posing, ostensibly holding a cigarette.
There are often ghosts.
A newborn baby ostensibly holds a cigarette.
A couple posing, with scars.
Trust only the instruments.

If we are silent...
Nature will allows us to be connected.
To be able to transcend.
I welcome.

Ha ha! Very important, we control nothing.
What is important is the water.
The water is filled here, ready to descend by gravity.
It is a closed circuit.

We have rectangular tubes,
Square tubes,
Round tubes.
We have rectangular tubes,
Paf!
Square tubes,
Bam!
Round tubes.
Paf! Bam!
Volumes that change.
Paf!We have rectangular tubes,
Paf! Bam!A drop shape.
Round tubes.
Bam! Bam!
Tubes, square tubes.

It is a succession of volumes.
From 5500 feet up to 3500 feet.
It goes from 3500 feet to 2500 feet.
It goes from 2500 feet to 1500 feet.
From 1500 feet to the surface.

This part is called the edge.
There's a small light twisting there.
This is called the blade.
And you can't have a blade if you don't have a sharp edge first.