It was almost a year ago ... August 24, 2017 ... As time flies, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years and quickly it's a life that passes without us seeing the time pass ... It is time for me to share this wonderful gift received.
So in this world where we run against time, I decided to make you discover a work of art where time takes another dimension, a moment out of time that can give way to appeasement, reverie ... This virtual will allow you not only to discover this work, but also to walk in the park that the home.
The Park of Tessé
This park dates back to the seventeenth century, it was divided into three terraces and still today we observe these three different levels. It was in 1926 that the garden underwent changes to be fully landscaped with an oval basin in the center. Since then, the park has not undergone any major changes.
This park is also home to the Museum of Fine Arts of Le Mans, more often called Museum of Tesse, since 1927. This building was built in 1848 by the Architect Delarue and was the residence of the families Beaumanoir and Tessé. Since 1927, it houses the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts.
The Hourglass
The mysterious and astonishing work of art in the Parc de Tessé between the two basins is the work of Manceau artist Jean Bernard Métais. This work is entitled "Time Imparti Eclipse". Originally this work was conceived for the total solar eclipse that took place in 1999. It was designed to work for 22 months, which corresponds to the time between the eclipse of August 11, 1999 and that of June 2001. It was exhibited at the Garden of Plants of the Natural History Museum in Paris from 1999 to 2002.
After being dismantled from the Jardin des Plantes, the work was acquired in 2007 by the City of Le Mans and was installed in the Parc de Tessé. It was during the summer solstice of 2009 that the start took place and it is at the time of the solstices of summer and winter that the sand is reloaded.
It is a gigantic cube of glass and mirrors in which flows through 118 cavities more than 28 tons of sands cyclically. These cavities located in the intermediate slab of a thickness of 40 cm and located at 2.80m high are remotely controlled electrically and programmable to infinity, which leaves the possibility of making thousands of random figures. The sand selected for this work comes from the Bay of the Somme, part was baked to give this white powdery silica and the other part in the natural state was sieved, dried and dusted.
This work in perpetual "movement" is different every day, see every minute depending on the flow of sand.
The artistic goal of Jean-Bernard Métais is to invite the observer to slow down his own time It is about contemplating millions of grains of sand that form avalanche after avalanche stability zones, which in turn collapse again to keep only one slope. It's a fascinating experience since it's never the same.
I invite you to take the time to observe this work and to stroll while enjoying the calm of this park ... to perhaps stop for a few moments the time that passes ...
The park is not accessible 24 hours a day, the times are as follows:
- from March 16th to May 15th from 9h to 18h50
- from May 16th to September 15th from 9h to 19h50
- from September 16th to November 15th from 9 to 18:50
- from November 16th to March 15th from 9h to 17h50
To validate this cache You will have to accomplish several missions:
1- During your walk in the park, go to the WP Tessé Museum and answer the following question: Over time the building that now houses the museum has had other function. Indicate which activity housed this building during the 1st World War? Your answer must be sent either by mail or via geocaching messaging.
2- You will need to attach to your log a photo of your hand holding an object related to the time (be imaginative) in front of the hourglass (if not a photo with your GPS will be sufficient)
3- Without any obligation and if you wish: In your log explain in one sentence (or more for the great imaginative) what makes you think the "landscape" of the lower part of the work
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.