EXPO FLO 2010. Landscapers are Artists.

Expo Flo is a once every two year show, held at the National Institute for Horticulture, in Angers. It is held over three days and displays the work of the horticultural and landscaping students of the university, who are given only three days to not only produce their exhibit, but make, beg, steal and borrow all materials and plants. I was given a guided tour today by fellow LJN'er Mlle Duriez, a masters student at the INH.

The show allows the artistic ideas of landscaping students, (who ultimately will become practitioners), to display their ideas of highlighting innovative landscaping techniques to the general public. The given three day time frame for conception and build is a severe constraint on the students, yet some incredible ideas are formulated and illustrated.

Vertical gardens were used as standard, but a concept for a roof garden, facing downwards and cellular gardens, (4 walls and a roof, creating mini green spaces), were two novel ideas, where the concepts were well illustrated. One particularly clever idea was to highlight individual planting or plants, which surrounded a cinema screen - the short film was interrupted with lights shining onto the plants, thus forcing you to really concentrate on the plant. Despite being well used to lighting up plants for visual effect this concept really did make you see the plant as you would never have looked at it before.

In the UK for many of the garden designers the concept of landscaping as an art form is a given, but for many of the landscaping practitioners, it is a notion that is only occasionally explored if the client is willing. Expo flo clearly demonstrated that in France the whole of the land based industry is not only strongly connected to the artistic world but embrace it fully. This can allow more power to the practitioner as the individualistic landscaping techniques each practitioner will have is a major, if not the major selling point to a client, both commercial or domestic. As such each contract can be viewed more as a commission, with the extra freedom this allows.

Landscaping and landscapes will always be intrinsically linked with art and in the UK, there has been a distinct artistic movement developing the 'land art' concepts. Such people usually come from an fine art background and command the high fees respected by such a background. I am not criticising this, but how many landscapers look at such art, (of which Andy Goldsworthy is arguably the most prominent) and not only know they can construct similar easily but also be capable of designing unique features themselves. If the UK training establishments in the first place allowed the practitioner to feel they were capable of such feats, would this add extra ammunition to empower the profession or simply divide the profession?

The French landscaper Jacques Simon whose installations are highly subjective and often very simple, commands the kind of salaries the UK pay to 'Turner Prize' winning artists - I wouldn't mind earning that kind of money and when you look at his work, we are all more than capable of it.By the way, students from the INH Angers, (Campus Ouest) are often seeking work placements in the UK over the summer, I cannot recommend more highly taking on a student from there for their three month work placement.Pip Howard - 0033 06 01 07 20 23

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