This « sand installation » is the result of Jean-Bernard Metais' intense research work at the Fondation Cartier during 1989/1990. It is the second part of Temps Imparti / Eclipse (Assigned Time Eclipse).

After the original work was installed, in 1999, as a temporary commission at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, it attracted and enchanted millions of visitors, and remained on site until 2002.

A replica of the Jardin des Plantes' work was commissioned in 2007 by the city of Le Mans as a permanent installation in the park of the Musée Tessé. It was officially dedicated on the day of the summer solstice in June 2009.

Temps Imparti / Solstice (Assigned Time/Solstice) is an impressive glass and mirror structure measuring 8 x 8 x 7 meters in which 30 tons of sand move in a cyclical flow. The huge conical sand pile, visible in the ceiling mirror, undergoes constant subtle movements and transformations as 150 electric lenses, located under the middle ledge and operated by remote control, open and close in a rhythmical fashion and according to computer-programmed moves, thereby creating thousands of unexpected patterns.
Jean Bernard Metais' goal is to open a window onto the wholeness of another living world as he has conceived and experienced it, while, at the same time, he is inviting us to slow down our own tempo. Metais, who has traveled around the world to observe eclipses and other natural phenomenon, has created a "time catcher". This experimental sand vessel continues to deliver poetic images that are both sensual and unexpected, and remain in constant flux. (Excerpt from "Etre-sable" (Being-sand) Jacques Brosse, 2007)

Photo (c) Guy Durand

Contact:
jb-metais@wanadoo.fr