For the work 'le sommet des philosophes', the artist uses this principle with the intention of engraving the word 'reau' ('real' in Provençal) on stones located on the summit of the Dourbes (20 km south-east of Digne-les-Bains). All around these central cores, other stones of different sizes, located at different distances, will bear the names of several philosophers engraved with gold leaf. Their position in space and the distance from the central stone corresponds to the relationship between their philosophical thought and the concept of reality. This installation, which unfolds in the space open to a unique mountainous landscape, reveals to the walker an archipelago of human thought and its relationship to sensitive reality.

This permanent installation is part of the 'traces' project, a series of interventions carried out regularly since 1999 and continued on several sites chosen by the artist on the territory of the Géoparc de Haute Provence. The 'traces' evoke more than describe the place and attract the attention of the walker to orient him towards a new interpretation of the context that unfolds around him, in the present moment. Taking up an ancient lineage of writings engraved on stone, these discreet traces, dense in meaning, make the viewer the active explorer of nature.

source: Musée Gassendi, Digne-les-Bains]