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Sisyphus Casemate is a creation made on site by Henrique Oliveira, in the Jardins Suspendus (Hanging Gardens).
It is in this former defensive fort, isolated on the heights of the city, now dedicated to the preservation and presentation of plants, that this work has naturally found its place. Sisyphus Casemate can be discovered in two parts: first, an organic, mysterious opening in a wall; then, inside, an entire tree, an anomaly that must have grown there horizontally.
However, you just need to observe this tree carefully to see that it isn’t quite that: it is indeed the work of a sculptor, an attempt to reproduce the living capable of misleading us at first sight. This creature assembled from different woods, which its author nicknamed "Frankenstein's tree", can be seen in different ways, imbued with both life and death at the same time. While we can admire the feigned vigour of this tree, its branches, which stretch not towards the sky but the window, it is also a rickety creation, without leaves, without bark except for pieces taken from elsewhere and screwed onto its surface.
The title of the work, which refers to the myth of Sisyphus, evokes, according to Henrique Oliveira, a repeated – and vain? – attempt to reproduce nature.
Sisyphus Casemate was created on site over two months, by the artist supported by assistants, with the help of the Hanging Gardens team regarding the removal of “natural” pieces of wood.
