Un monde en marche, by Michel Gautier
Competition Honourable Mention, 2010
“A world on the move’’ or, ‘’Fair and softy goes far in a day.’’
We travel the world on a blue planet
We use nature as one of our various ‘’artefacts’’.
Is there a difference between nature and ourselves ?
Are we not a part of it, depending upon the whole
Wholly interdepending !
Whole ‘’earthly’’ dependant !?
We want to direct our lives, but is it possible without a respectful attitude towards Life itself ?
My sculpture tells the story of humanity on the move, but in which direction, and how long will it be able to carry its journey?
And who’s in charge ?
The old saying remains true : ‘’ ’Fair and softy goes far in a day.’’
I wish to induce a line of thoughts within the visitors, so that they start wondering where they feel they’re at with regard to the ecosystem
As the large migratory birds which raise our admiration, Michel Gautier travels the "Blue Planet", back and forth upward and downward in search of new images and vivid emotions. His most intimate fibers are impregnated with the air, light, water, soil and vegetation of the travelled countries. Artist, he draws abundantly from the stone, wood, pigments, resins, metals generously offered by nature to express his intense thirst for freedom, as well as his amazement towards life. He is close in that to the soul of the First Nations, the hope of the colonists, and the breath of the future generations. His work is engagement and gratitude towards Nature.
At the boundaries of the real and the unreal, we understand that the Earth is our mother for all, that life in us is the same for all living beings and that, consequently, it is forbidden to imagine a material development in detriment of the environment or even at the expense of other men. Nothing else than a presumptuous attempt to order and exploit the natural.
Claude Hamelin, poet and scientist
