The shishi odoshi is a traditional water fountain often found in Japanese gardens, and serves to deter animals that have an appetite for garden plants. The object consists of a hollow bamboo tube placed on a pivot. which leans on a rock at rest, with its heavier part at the bottom. Flowing water accumulating at the top of the tube causes the centre of gravity to shift and flip the tube over. Thus, the water is again knocked out of the bamboo and the shishi odoshi returns to its original position. The sound of this impact when the tube hits the rock startles animals looking for treats from the garden.
Pierre Berthet creates his own water fountain in which an endless play of sounds resounds. At first sight banal objects, such as cans, nails, snail shells, shells, wood, aluminium foil, paper, etc. are attached to the moving arm, and make themselves heard again and again as they hit the ground, or objects lying on the ground (such as stones or saucers), with each downward movement. A perpetual mobile that invites the visitor to let go of time and space and allow himself to be carried away in the meditative power of repeated movement.
