MASS
DAVID DE BEYTER
MASS is a research project looking at terrestrial landscapes whose geology bears strong similarities to landscapes on other planets. Their appearance evokes what the Earth must have looked like at the time of its chaotic birth. These ancestral geological formations offer us landscapes of raw, hypnotic beauty. These landscapes are spaces of projection. They represent the fantasy of an extraterrestrial elsewhere, and embody the past, present and future projections of the conquest of space. In this sense, they call into question the very notion of utopia, and more specifically of utopian landscapes, as these panoramas open the door to new forms of society.
By photographing the volcanic areas of Lanzarote, Andalusia and certain American deserts such as the Craters Of The Moon, the MASS project investigates these 'geological chaos' through photography and questions the places that generate modern beliefs and mythology. Using several photographic viewpoints of the same landscape, the artist creates fictional landscapes by digitally recomposing them. This insinuates a sense of uncertainty about the nature and existence of these sites. The exhibition space is conceived as an immersive environment, an invitation to a strange and fascinating journey around the notion of utopian landscapes.
This exhibition has been supported by the Institut pour la photographie and lille3000.
