In the garden of FRAC Alsace, the artist Laurent Le Deunff brings wild animals into view as if by surprise. Barely visible, motionless, sometimes even hidden, they nevertheless seem to have always been part of the landscape. As they wander through the garden, visitors both young and old are invited to search for them and recognize them, in a stroll that blends curiosity, play, and reverie.

Created using rusticage, or faux bois a technique inherited from the history of decorative gardens these cement sculptures appear to come from another time. They evoke the grottos, artificial rocks, and ornamental follies that, in the 19th century, transformed parks into landscapes of imagination. Here, however, Laurent Le Deunff diverts this legacy to bring forth animal figures that, in turn, observe the visitors.

For these animals are not quite animals. Presented as busts or totems, they recall the portrait galleries of illustrious figures erected to endure through time. Their posture, frontal stance, and monumental presence evoke classical sculpture, yet their faces are those of animals. It is as if, in another narrative, other species had taken their place in history. Or perhaps we are visiting an exhibition in tribute to vanished animals?

Through these figures, the artist questions the way we look at living beings. To whom do we pay homage? What traces do we choose to leave behind? Between memory and fiction, his sculptures become the remnants of a possible world, where humans are no longer at the center, but among other forms of life.

The garden itself also contributes to this reflection. As it grows, gradually covering certain works, it blurs reference points, erases hierarchies, and restores nature’s strength and autonomy. The animals sometimes disappear beneath the foliage, as if returned to a broader cycle. And the trapdoor, which seems to promise access to a buried treasure, remains closed reminding us that not everything is given to us, that some riches remain to be imagined.

At the intersection of ecology, memory, and representations of reality, this exhibition invites us to slow down, to observe, and to consider the garden as a living space where the stories we tell about the world are re-enacted in new ways.

Conceived and planted by the Swiss artist duo Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger, Schatz & Jardin is an evolving work that takes root in the garden of FRAC Alsace like a living organism. Since 2021, the project has unfolded over the long term, following the rhythm of the seasons and natural transformations, inviting visitors to observe, wait, and wander.