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For Fluide, Xavier Rijs has created not just something to be viewed, but rather a living space. Based on the various avenues and paths in Grand Bon Dieu Woods, he offers a reflection on the cycle of life and the relationship between old and young. In Thuin, Xavier Rijs works on the urban furniture (or what is left of it…) dotted about the woods, to create new public benches and plant new trees. The old trees provide support, act as stakes, protectors of the young ones and invite walkers to sit down, meditate, chat or play. An intervention that extends the life of the tree into a living sculpture, embodying current concerns linked to intergenerational dialogue. For this project, Xavier Rijs was accompanied by his son, Thibaut, from its design to creating the works. He likes to exchange, share and pass on his woodworking experience, which by far exceeds a philosophical and artistic reflection on the tree.
“Life continues in a mythical circle where old wise men (or less wise) meditate on past life and future life, where lovers plunge in the sap that links heaven and earth, where the young (or not so young) play in the carefreeness (and indifference?) of nature. This leads us to the idea that only human presence will make the project complete. In other words, it is human presence that will give the artistic offerings a value: they are more a living space than a work to be viewed and the real sculpture will perhaps be the person who sits on it…” X. Rijs.
