Gogottes: Unfolding Time

 

 

            “Mother Nature is the greatest artist and water is one of her favorite brushes.” 

            - Rico Besserdich.

 

 

 

It's so wonderful when you discover something completely new in the art/design world that is so far off your normal radar that it utterly amazes you. And so it was for me on visiting Eskenazi Ltd to see a different exhibition, but discovering a prime example of what I now know to be a Gogotte in their front window. I initially thought the Gogotte to be a piece of modernist sculpture, but had my mind blown when I was told of its age, and the fact that these 'sculptures' were created by no less an artist than Mother Nature herself. Gogottes are rare and found exclusively in the Fontainbleau region of France. Gogottes were discovered accidentally in the 17th century by construction workers in the extensive, rare sand veins near Fontainbleau.Their strange shapes are called concretions, and they are thought to have formed between 8000 and 5000 years ago. They are said to be formed from quartz crystals and calcium carbonate and produced when super heated water extruded through crevices into a basin of extremely fine silicate sand. The water was saturated with calcium carbonate (limestone). The swirls and eddies of water were captured in the gradually concreting stone forming the fantastic sculptures. They are like some surreal, mad, hybrid mash-up of elements of Baroque sculptural cloud depictions, Bibendum (Michelin Man), gloopy marshmallows, and those disturbing Hans Belmer dolls. I am completely fascinated by the circles that ring their surfaces and how delicately and precisely nature has carved them. Read on to learn more about these extraordinary marvels of nature, and delight in the pictures below illustrating the ultimate beauty and weirdness of their creation.

 

 

 

"Gogottes are beautiful and beguiling mineral formations. Once thought to have been composed from chalk, they are actually the rare and entirely natural result of calcium carbonate binding with extremely fine quartz grains. Each sculptural layer is a unique composition from the mineral-rich waters of Fontainebleau, northern France, with the shapes evoking clouds and tangible representations of dreamlike imagery. The mineralization process takes place over the course of approximately 30 million years, with every formation a uniquely shaped wonder. As a prime example of the blend between nature and art, gogottes can be appreciated as sandstone variants of the Gongshi (scholar’s rocks) tradition. These sandstone concretions boast an international popularity and an acclaimed reputation spanning centuries. As early as the late seventeenth century for example, gogottes were lauded for their aesthetic by the highest echelons of French nobility. Louis XIV “the Sun King” of France (r. 1643-1715) was so enamored by these formations that he ordered extensive excavations around Fontainebleau, in order to decorate his palace gardens. Gogottes still adorn L’Encelade, Les Trois Fontaines, and La Salle de Bal at Versailles, and continue to enchant and delight visitors as they have for over 300 years.
It is perhaps unsurprising that gogottes served as inspiration for artists well into the 20th century. As dynamic snapshots of elemental metamorphosis, they were particularly well received by impressionist and surrealist sculptors. In particular, the recumbent figures by Henry Moore, and white marble compositions by Jean Arp (S’accroupissant, 1960-1962) and Louise Bourgeois (Cumul I, 1969) all evoke the arresting and unpredictable formations of gogottes. More recently, a large specimen was gifted to London’s Natural History Museum, in honour of naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s 90th birthday. Large intact sandstone concretions are uncommon, and rarer still are examples with fine, unblemished and milky-white surface."

 

Gogottes: Unfolding Time

until 8th July

Eskenazi Gallery

10 Clifford Street

London

W1S