La quadrature du Volcan (Squaring the Volcano) is the outcome of a photographic reporting made by Clive Kodrii in the city of Le Havre (France).
It is conceived as an off-centre attempt of a chaotic reconstruction of Le Volcan (the Volcano), the architectural work of Oscar Niemeyer erected in the city centre. After the two short preambles that fictitiously inscribe the famous building in a temporal and spatial frameworks, the four predominant sections, which represent the heart of an unattainable squaring, reveal the constant search for a curve (geometric element favoured by Oscar Niemeyer) or that of a straight line (geometric element related to the application of the squaring), striving to find a harmony, or on the contrary a discordance, between these two figures. Driven by a singular look that ventures particularly in places far removed from everyday life and even from everyday perception, whether empty, abandoned or inaccessible, the four sections of the squaring essentially reflect sites devoid of any picturesque or tourist features: the harbour, the docks, the basins, but especially the logistic warehouses and terminals, the storage areas of containers or the tanks of the petrochemical industry. The spaces concerned by the flow of goods are here temporarily stopped and deserted by humans. By showing them fixed in time, these sections question the complex relationship between Man and his environment transfigured by a society without real limits (globalization, overproduction, overconsumption). A local representation of peripheral human activities is thus affixed, albeit indirectly and metaphorically, to the artwork of an architect recognized for his humanism and idealism. Through this strange juxtaposition, are celebrated, by contrast, the values dear to Oscar Niemeyer. La quadrature du Volcan, which title evokes a subject that is both insoluble and almost irrational, but which also suggests a persistent search for singularity and sensitivity, pays homage to the exceptional inventiveness and the noble obstinacy of contemporary architects. |
236 pages (6.7" x 8.6")
209 black & white photographs (4.7" x 3.1") Contains no actual text, with the exception of an introductory quote and chapter titles. Éditions BoD - May 2019 Hardcover book Printed on white glossy photo paper 135 lb, FSC® certified Sales : online stores (Amazon, Fnac, etc.) and bookstores ISBN 978-2-3221-1127-5 |