Italic fountain but not identical fountain! Should we repaint it or let it evolve like this? Still, the Italic fountain, installed on the terrace of orange trees next to the Chalucet media library, has changed appearance.
Sparkling blue in color when it was installed in fall 2020, it has become beige, “dull”some say.
“Why did she change so quickly?”asks Nathalie, a regular at the neighboring media library and witness to what she considers to be a “wear of the work”month after month: “At the beginning, everything worked: the trickle of water fell and the water was recycled by the basin. Now, the system seems to have broken down and the basin is empty! It's a shame because it brought color to Chalucet and it went very well with the green of the plantations”
Varnish faded under the influence of the sun
It was within the framework of the 1% artistic that the project of the artist Didier Marcel was selected to create a unique monumental sculpture.
An artistic committee had been formed beforehand, wishing “choose a strong work, which could represent an emblem of the territory. This work is also the “T” of Toulon.”
The fountain was therefore created in several stages: molding the tree in a shipbuilding forest, manufacturing the elements in a foundry and transporting it to Toulon.
“It is a sculpture in colored aluminum, which takes the molding of the bark of a tree. The artistic intention is a vertical running fountain which echoes the succession of long pools of the Chalucet promenade “It is a gateway between Mount Faron and the marine horizons of the harbor.”, the designer then explained.”
“The work of time sublimates the sculpture”
Except that the blue has evaporated over time and the varnish has disappeared, under the combined effect of the sun and the heat. There remains the bare “trunk” which gives the whole thing an autumn air: fitting with the season!
The TPM metropolis, at the initiative of this ambitious project, supports the artist. “From the beginning, we have been aware that the Italic Fountain evolves over time. This is happening today in a natural way. As for the basin, it is currently being cleaned and will soon be put back into service”.
Didier Marcel based his work on this “gradual return to nature”he explains. “Today, everything is subject to the test of time and evolution. The italic fountain is no exception to this rule. Its color has begun to evolve to gradually regain the gray of the aluminum which affirms the nobility of the foundry. Its color, originally blue, remains, softened in the hollows of the shape, revealing the design of the bark all the better. The work of time sublimates the sculpture, the form is now refined and imposes itself in all its decorative power. She finds a form of nobility”.
For the moment, no intervention on the Italic fountain is therefore planned. She lives her life. At her own pace and beyond everyone's feelings about her.
