Yann Faisant devised the Apple Time project from 2008 to 2012, as the art of demonstrating the persistence of nature within an unfriendly man-made universe, and showing how crucial it is to preserve the fundamental balance between man and nature. Apple Time stages the journey and setting-up of a golden apple on sites faced with critical environmental challenges. This work relies on two emblematic figures: the apple and Ginkgo Biloba.

APPLE TIME, A SELF-EVIDENT Art PROJECT
«The golden apple», through its representation as a fruit, its constituent materials (bronze and gold), its magnitude and universality, stands as the central focus in Yann Faisant’s artistic message. As the «fruit» of his labour, the golden apple embodies at once nature, knowledge, freedom and the forbidden fruit. It alludes to lead being turned into gold, to inner and outer quests, and all that needs to be preserved. The apple is held as a highly symbolic fruit in most societies and civilisations. 3,000 years ago, the Chinese were already using it as a nutrient. It later reached the Arab, Greek and Roman civilizations via the Silk Road. In the realms of history, philosophy and religion, the apple has frequently served as a significant icon: the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden; a symbol of knowledge; the apple in the Garden of Hesperides; a symbol of immortality; Isaac Newton’s apple; or, not so long ago, the emblem of New York City. Its nutritive properties make it a prerequisite for the survival of mankind, just as fauna needs flora.
Every one of the seven sculptures is adorned with a lobed or incised Ginkgo Biloba fan-shaped leaf. This tree owes its definite uniqueness to its virtually legendary history combined with its sturdiness, biochemistry and great resistance to unfavourable environments.
Ginkgo Biloba is a mythical tree in many respects. This «living fossil» survived the outbreak which led to the extinction of all ammonites and dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous era. It proves outstandingly resistant and robust, particularly when facing up to urban and industrial pollution, as well as to bacteria or parasitic fungi. Due to its specific uniqueness, curative energy and aesthetics, its resistance to modern scourges and all geological and climactic changes, Ginkgo Biloba is a galvanizing and nourishing source of inspiration for Yann Faisant’s work, as rendered in his visual performances and by the «40-Crowns Tree» peculiar leaf erected on the «golden apple».
Apple Time is all but another mystical quest. It shall not be construed either as some form of rather fashionable political or Green proselytizing. Apple Time conveys Yann Faisant’s aesthetic argument to assert that the living is now surviving: aggregating two vegetable symbolisms in response to nature being manipulated by man. Apple Time pertains to an artistically activist commitment that is meant to stir up public interest in this issue through magnificent and aesthetical works.