International Garden Competition
Grand Metis, Quebec, Canada
2022
Travis Van Liere Studio
Shortlisted

PALIMPSEST, from the Greek words palin meaning “again” and psestos meaning a “rubbed or smooth surface”, is defined as a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain. Similarly, it means something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.

This definition reflects the design goal of PALIMPSEST, which is to showcase the unique character of this area along the St. Lawrence River and represent the French-influenced agricultural long lots that define the riverbanks.

The installation has a simple design that utilizes mirrored surfaces of varied heights and rotations to reflect the natural landscape of the site - both the surrounding forest and the landscape beyond. These reflections of the color green on the surface of the mirrors symbolize the agricultural long lots and reflect the site’s roots as a French colony and an important agricultural area for the region. 

Additionally, the ground plane surface is blue in color to represent both the nearby St. Lawrence River and the site’s Himalayan Blue Poppy. Over the course of the installation, the blue surfacing will wear away as visitors traverse and move through the site, revealing a layering or palimpsest of human and non-human activity. The change from a smooth and serene blue surface to one marked by activity recalls the ways in which the river has been altered by agriculture and industry.

Overall, PALIMPSEST embraces the history of the site, and its roots, as a serene Northern Quebec landscape and an important agricultural region along a prominent river in Canadian history that is the St. Lawrence, while maintaining and celebrating the site’s new and current function as a place for conversations and discourse about art, design, and our roles as humans in the reshaping of the natural world.