Geology of a disaster I
2020, concrete, white cement, grey cement, pigments, wax

L96 x D58 x H27.5 cm

 

Geology of a disaster II

2021, concrete, steel bar, white cement, grey cement, pigments

L10 x D10 x H85,5 cm

 

The term is understood as a metaphor for capitalism. These objects, somewhere between geological models and building blocks, operate firstly by analogy between the stratification of geological rocks and the stratification of society into classes with disparities of wealth and power. Secondly, like deep geological formations, the foundations of capitalism, based on complex and interlocking economic and financial infrastructures, are deeply rooted in our society.

 

It is no coincidence either that they are built primarily in concrete. Anselm Jappe has described concrete as a 'massive weapon of construction of capitalism', and it poses a major environmental problem, since sand, an essential component in its manufacture, is the world's second most exploited natural resource, after water, and its ever-increasing extraction is causing serious ecological problems (impact on biodiversity, pollution, flooding, depletion of aquifers, coastal erosion, worsening drought, etc.).

 

There is also another way of looking at this, in which our forward-looking imagination would lead us to consider these objects as the results of core sampling carried out by a future society. Indeed, given the massive use of this material over a long period, we can imagine that successive layers of concrete will accumulate on the Earth's surface, forming geological layers of concrete on top of the natural geological layers.