Clément Cogitore. Ferdinandea, The Ephemeral Island
Co-published by Mucem and Atelier EXB
344 pages
17 x 22 cm
ISBN 978-2-36511-456-1
Edited by:
Kathryn Weir, Hélia Paukner, and Enguerrand Lascols.
With contributions from:
Enguerrand Lascols, Hélia Paukner, and Kathryn Weir.
And a previously unpublished text by the writer Tristan Garcia
In June 1831, an underwater volcanic eruption between Sicily, Tunisia, and Libya gave rise to a small, barren island made of ash. While sailors and residents of the nearby coasts feared the awakening of a monster, the new territory piqued the curiosity of scientists and the greed of European powers, who sought to claim its strategic position. The competition, however, was short-lived: six months later, the ephemeral island—named “Ferdinandea” by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies—sank back beneath the waves of the Mediterranean.
A video artist, visual artist, storyteller, and filmmaker, Clément Cogitore draws on this historical and geological phenomenon as the starting point for an empirical work of fiction. Based on historical research and speculative projections, his “Ferdinandea” series chronicles the emergence and disappearance of the volcanic island in a multimedia installation that brings together 16mm films, videos, photographs, and historical documents. The exhibition catalog, designed as an artist’s book, unfolds a visual narrative bordering on the dystopian, inviting the reader on a dreamlike and metaphorical journey. At the heart of the book, an unpublished short story by Tristan Garcia underscores the fictional nature of the work.
