Erik Samakh’s “water ponds” are often created in the natural landscape and are ideal for sensory experiences and meditative walks. Samakh’s initial project,  Planter des sources (Planting Springs), which was not completed, reflects the political dimension that characterises his artistic approach. In this first project designed for an outdoor installation in the middle of the desert, solar collectors were to supply energy to a “trap” designed to catch the water contained in the air.
Between sculpture and installation, water generator and ecological object, Planter des sources II (Planting Springs II) comprises a cold chamber with an electrical power supply that captures the humidity in the atmosphere and transforms it into drinking water that is poured into a glass container. The transparent booth shows the technical mechanism allowing the liquefaction, the expulsion of water, drop by drop, remains almost a mysterious phenomenon.

Erik Samakh lives and works in Serres in the Hautes-Alpes, he defines himself as a “hunter-gatherer” of images and sounds, which he has been capturing, recording or deploying for more than 25 years in natural spaces. His work is nourished by a constant dialogue with nature, in an approach that mixes a form of archaic relationship with the living with an extreme sophistication of the technical devices put in place. It is always a question for the artist to make people and landscapes act and react, to awaken the senses, to disturb or shift our perception of places. Many of his works have been produced on natural sites such as regional parks or geological reserves (Lorraine Regional Nature Park, Gorges de Riou, Tijuca Forest in Brazil, Vassivière International Centre for Art and Landscape, etc.).