In the spring of 2006 Daniel Spoerri participated in the exhibition »A3« on the Place Saint Sulpice in Paris with the theme »Absence«, in memory of the artist Raymond Hains, who had died shortly before and with whom he had long been friends. For his homage, Spoerri executed an idea that he had been toying with for some time: discarded walking sticks serving as supports for plants, thereby providing a memorial to the possibly deceased owners of the sticks as well as providing an aid to propelling the plants’ vigour to the light. Raymond Hains, who termed himself »l’abstrait« – the abstract one – had himself appeared at the previous »A3« exhibition with two walking sticks. The same installation can now be found in the Giardino in a former, now derelict herb garden.