sempervirens
“Evergreen. From semper: always; and virens: green.” Inexpensive, keeping their leaves January to December, pollution and wind resistant, theses conifers proliferate all over the world. Generally planted to hide and preserve privacy, the shrubs tracked down by Christoph Sillem since 2001 also reveal their ownwer’s obsession. Obsession with tranquility, with a secured fixed and perfectly mastered world. Obsession with a fence pruned at millimeter accuracy that nature always threatens to take over: here a longer branch spoils the hedge’s straightness; there a hole can’t seem to be filled. “I am interested in the relationship between the sculptor and his work. I search for the human aspect; the ambivalence between the showcase and the hideaway embodied by these plants,” explains the photographer, as he recalls one man who dedicated 50 years of his life to his hedges, and was concerned that he would no longer be able to continue. Generally close ups, frontal or low angle views, the series also reveals the photographer’s obsession, playing with a culture of confinement, isolation and protection……
Pauline Martin Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne
