Initiée par la pratique artistique de l’auteur, cette thèse a pour premier objectif de saisir les qualités plastiques et esthétiques de l’aquarium, tant sous sa forme domestique et individuelle qu’à l’échelle des scénographies d’établissements publics. Le second est de déterminer ses rapports avec le monde subaquatique naturel, et son influence potentielle sur notre manière de percevoir ce milieu si particulier. Directement hérité du XIXe siècle, et pour ainsi dire ignoré de la recherche en dehors de l’aquariophilie, ce dispositif d’exposition se distingue par son ambiguïté. Il oscille constamment entre science, décoration et spectacle tout en prenant une infinité de formes, chacune engageant le spectateur de manière différente. Puisant des exemples dans les champs de l’art contemporain, de l’histoire de l’art, de la littérature comme des sciences naturelles, et impliquant constamment le travail plastique de l’auteur, la thèse s’organise en trois parties. À l’issue d’une approche historique, l’aquarium est d’abord défini comme dispositif écranique tenant à la fois du tableau et de la scène de théâtre avant d’apparaître dans un deuxième temps, au vu des éléments qui le composent, comme un jardin miniature. Loin de reproduire avec fidélité un site naturel donné, l’aquarium relève du domaine de l’art et de la création, héritant du maniérisme de la Renaissance, du courant pittoresque du XVIIIe siècle comme des jardins d’Extrême-Orient. Sans évolution marquante depuis son invention, le paysage dans l’aquarium apparaît enfin dans sa dimension nostalgique, grottes, ruines et autres fabriques renvoyant autant aux apocalypses légendaires qu’aux risques écologiques actuels. / Initiated with the author’s own artistic work, the first purpose of this thesis is to point out the plastic and aesthetic properties of the aquarium, in its household and unique form as much as in the scale of the scenographies used by the public aquariums. The second objective is to determine its connections with the natural state of the subaquatic world, and its influence over our way of perceiving this unique environment. Directly inherited from the XIXth century, and essentially ignored by the academic world, this exhibition device is characterized by its ambiguity. It constantly fluctuates between science, decoration and entertainment, while taking an infinite variety of forms, each one involving the spectator in a different way. Using examples in the fields of art, art history, literature, and natural sciences, but constantly linked to the author’s artistic work, this thesis is organized in three parts. After a brief historical approach of the aquarium, it is first defined as a display, a screen generating pictures, based on the model of the painting and the theater stage, and it appears then, considering its components, to be a miniature garden. Far from an accurate reproduction of a natural site, the aquarium falls under the field of art and creation, perpetuating the Mannerism of the Cinquecento, the theory of the picturesque developed in the XVIIIth century, or Chinese and Japanese traditional gardens. Without any major change since its invention, the land- or aquascape inside the aquarium finally projects a nostalgic piece of scenery - the ruins, grottoes and other follies referring to both legendary apocalypses and the current ecological peril.

Fish keeping, in tanks or aquariums, dates back to Sumerians, ancient Romans and ancient Chinese civilizations. Fish keeping and rearing has evolved into what is collectively known as aquaculture, ornamental fish aquaculture has evolved to be collectively known as Ornamental Fish Industry. Worldwide Ornamental Fish Industry has been estimated to be worth some 15 billion US dollars. Asian Countries are major players in this field, contributing roughly 56 % of total export industry value in 2007. Taiwan’s modest contribution of about 1 % to global share seems very small; however, industry has been steadily growing 10 % in recent years to the point where it has been included among major industries for development within the National Development Plan. Taiwanese Ornamental Fish Industry is very diverse and has tremendous importance for economic development. Profiting from substantial development of this industry in Taiwan and free trade agreements between the R.O.C (Taiwan) and the Republic of Nicaragua, this paper proposes the creation of a novel business model to Design, Install and provide Maintenance services for fresh water natural aquariums using state of the art technology imported from Taiwan. The concept involves creating a unique decorative feature in the form of an aquascaped aquarium in places such as shopping malls, bank offices, clinics and hospitals, law offices and private residences. This new décor feature will beautify open living spaces to create a relaxing and calming environment for observers. Health benefits of owning an aquarium will be pointed out to customers, possible traffic increase to shopping malls, due to new attraction, will bring economic benefits to established stores. Maintenance service is a key factor to the success of business model as it will guarantee long run success of aquarium and will guarantee sustainability of business model.