3 July 2024

Séché Environnement inaugurates a work by Mayenne artist Qiang Ma dedicated to biodiversity

Séché Eco Industries Changé

On July 3, Séché Environnement inaugurated a monumental sculpture dedicated to biodiversity on its Changé industrial site, in the presence of Chinese-born Mayenne artist Qiang Ma. The work, a sculpture of a whole oak tree measuring 15 metres high, 14 metres wide and weighing 28 tonnes, is presented horizontally. This initiative is part of the Act4nature and National Strategy for Biodiversity programs, in which Séché Environnement has been actively involved since 2014.

A project in favor of biodiversity

The sculpture, a one-of-a-kind Land Art-style work, gives a second life to a 200-year-old oak tree that used to stand on the Séché Environnement site in Mayenne.

Posed opposite the selective collection sorting center, the work is accessible to site users, employees, customers, service providers, as well as the thousands of visitors the site welcomes every year. The sculpture symbolizes recycling and the continuity of life, even after death, as the tree becomes a habitat for insects, birds and plants.

The artist’s message

Qiang Ma wishes to question the living and the cycles of life with universal questions: “Where do we come from? Where are we going?”.

He describes the symbols he uses as ” secret languages of nature “. For example, insect tracks left in the wood are taken up by the artist as a tattoo on the branches to create a ” writing of Nature “. A staircase carved into the branches seems to unite earth and sky and symbolizes the precepts of the Tao : ” The law of man follows the law of earth, the law of earth follows the law of heaven, the law of heaven follows the law of the Tao, and the Tao follows the law of nature “ : 人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然. Is written on the sculpture

Qiang Ma sensitively reveals the hidden beauty of nature as well as nature at work, in its raw beauty as well as its fragility. This is the principle of Land Art, and this sculpture continues to live on after its creation through the natural working of wood and as time goes by.

Sculpted biodiversity

The link with biodiversity, which is the company’s strong marker through several of its approaches, was symbolized by several small artistic winks :

The bee’s nest, which was present at the foot of the tree and was recovered before the oak was moved, was symbolized by a fancy nest box,
An evergreen plant has found its place in the hollow of an old branch. The tree then becomes the nourishing soil.

“A tree in tune with the times to awaken our consciences!” according to Qiang Ma, who invites attentive observation, reminiscent of cathedral gargoyles and stimulating our imagination and connection with nature.