If artistic works are not always unanimous, the structure of the Voyage à Nantes installed in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre (Loire-Atlantique) is far from appealing to everyone. On the natural site of La Gandonnière, on the banks of the Erdre, this installation was created at the end of July 2021. Created by the
Nantes workshop Fichtre, it is made up of “alignments, successions of cabins whose simple and minimalist shape refers to the imagination of the boathouse”, explains the Voyage à Nantes on
his website.
However, this installation could not have seen the light of day, in the face of the anger of many residents, who had come together through a collective of 1,300 inhabitants of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre.
“An ugly thing”
Finally installed for two months, the structure continues to talk to passers-by. And rarely for the better. “Aesthetically, I don’t understand,” says Marie-Ange, who regularly comes to walk on the banks of the Erdre. “We discovered this with amazement. We don’t even know what it is and I don’t think we want to go to lunch there ”. “What a shame to put such an ugly thing in such an exceptional setting! », Exclaims Christian, a regular in the area.
Originally designed to be a gathering place to eat or contemplate the landscape, the installation (called Les Espaces Verts) ultimately attracts little picnickers, who prefer to sit on tables or on the floor. “This alignment of tables looks like a refectory. There was no need for that in this natural space. You have to know how to leave certain places as they are, ”says Anne, who has lived in the northern town of Nantes for thirty years.
The structure soon to be dismantled
A tempered opinion by Pascale, who considers that the color of the installation “blends rather well into the decor”. However, she has trouble imagining this work “to stay here permanently”.
This will not be the case since La Voyage à Nantes has planned to dismantle the structure “from this Monday, September 27”. A fully removable structure, “which will be reinstalled next summer”. As for the car park which was in place instead of the structure, it will not come back: “The goal is to ensure that the site becomes as natural as possible”, indicates Le Voyage à Nantes.