collaborative artwork parc de Procé
Laurent Tixador is an experimental DIY artist in the broadest sense of the term. In his desire to work with what his immediate environment offers as much as possible, he makes it a point of pride to use simple technologies.
Cabins are at the heart of his work. In recent years, the artist has explored the collaborative construction of cabins, inspired by cagnas – shacks built by French soldiers during WWI, using whatever materials were available in their surroundings.
Continuing his research on cabins and what they represent – collaboration, freedom, transition, humility – Tixador has created a life-size façade of one for a tramway (36 m/118 ft. long and 3 m/10 ft. tall) based on the principles of cabin construction. Patiently crafted in Parc de Procé using discarded wood from recent storms or pruned trees, this artwork was built with a team of students. Photographed then reproduced as a massive decal for a streetcar, this wooden “decor” has been placed on a tram, which will ride around the city, offering all city-dwellers a momentary (and humorous) “return to the forest”
In partnership with SEMITAN.
Special thanks to the Nantes’ Nature and Parks Department and the students of the École Nationale d’Architecture de Nantes and the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Saint-Nazaire, as well as the Médiacampus-Audencia SciencesCom.
Do not climb.
Laurent Tixador was born in 1965. He lives and works in Nantes and Laroque-Timbaut (Lot-et-Garonne). He is represented by Galerie In Situ – Fabienne Leclerc (Paris).
By the same artist
Parc de Procé, Rue des Dervallières, Nantes
How to get there?
Public transport: Procé, Poincaré, Fallières
Self-service bicycles: Station Naolib Vélo libre-service Procé (n°90)
