"Le jeu de Vénus et du hasard"  ("The game of venus and Chance")
Maro Avrabou / Dimitri Xenakis © 2006
 International Gardens Festival of Chaumont sur Loire.

At the surface of a pond (200 m2), emerging from the aquatic vegetation, the pieces
of a giant puzzle slowly drift about.
We can guess that the puzzle represents the famous Botticelli painting, the Birth
of Venus. Venus (goddess of Love and of Beauty), born from the sea, standing on
a great shell, is pushed towards the shore by two divinities of the wind. A nymph
is preparing to cover her with a cloak.
Thus, as the wind nudged Venus towards land, so it plays here with
the pieces of the puzzle, trying to arrange them. But some pieces are
missing; the puzzle will never be finished. And the lush vegetation of the
banks is progressively invading the pond.

Plants:
Ophiopogon nigrescens; Carex Buchanani; Myosotis sylvatica; Phormium Tenax; Cordyline Australis;
Erysimum. En aquatiques: Equisetum Japonica, Typha Angustifolia et Gracilis; Juncus;
Acorus Gramineus; Scirpus, Pontederia, Sparganium.
Special thanks to : Gérard DOSBA, Mathilde LANGLOIS, Sara LUBTCHANSKI, Bernard CHAPUIS, Jorge PINTO,
and to the festival gardeners team.

Le coquillage-plateforme d'accès mesure 7,50 de large et 3,30 m
de profondeur. Légèremenr surélevé, il permet une vue
panoramique du bassin et la sensation d'être dans le tableau.