The commission

The City of Guyancourt and Eiffage Aménagement wanted to integrate an artwork into the heart of the new public spaces created at the Pont du Routoir. Wishing to give a voice to the inhabitants of the district, they called on the Fondation de France's New Patrons action.

Ten residents of the district formed a group of patrons who, with the help of an artistic mediator, considered how an artwork could fit into the district by promoting its history, its social mix and its proximity to a natural environment.

The artwork

The artists selected to respond to this commission, Daniel Dewar and Grégory Gicquel, winners of the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2012, created a sculpture in a large block of granite rounded and eroded by time. Entitled Granite Rock with Arms, Hares and Bench, the artwork offers the public a direct relationship, encouraging them to sit and touch it. The placement of such a natural and massive stone in an urban context offers the possibility of approaching a primary element that reminds us of the growing distance between human beings and the places of production of most of the objects or materials that surround them on a daily basis.