Christian Gonzenbach

Over fifteen meters long, Micromegas is a green giant that lies on the grass and leans against a tree in front of the former chateau of Voltaire in Ferney-Voltaire, France. This site-specific, organic work is inspired by the last sentence in Voltaire’s Candide – “cultivate your garden” – which the artist takes quite literally in the work manifested. Life is given to the immobile monster whose decay is all but inevitable as nature takes its course through growth and harvest of squash on the belly, disfiguring and dismantling the form in due time. Through the production of new vegetation, the tomb-like figure engenders new life as it evolves into further decay and realizes a full circle of life.