Vincent Mauger explores notions of space and landscape through different media: drawing, video, and especially sculpture. Using construction materials and systems, he creates objects that play with notions of scale. This strange object is composed of long piles of wood fixed to a central matrix and reminiscent of ingenious machinery.
Its scale — equal parts majestic and frightening — reveals the sculpture’s ambiguity. The mind naturally strives to find a use for it: jutting out onto the Loire, dominating the former slipways once used to launch boats… Are we looking at a medieval war machine, an excavation machine from the former shipyards, or the skeleton of a giant animal?
The principles of construction remain visible and allow the spectator to reappropriate the object, to imagine ways to continue building it, or to modify its configuration.
Titan Cranes
The two titan cranes are remnants of the industrial era: the yellow one was put on site in 1955 to raise boat blocks and enable assembly on the slipway. The grey one was needed to unload ships from the 1960s onward, both have since been classified historical sights.
I’m interested
Terrasse des vents, à proximité de la grue jaune 44200 Nantes
How to get there?
Parking(s) nearby: Parking Chantiers Navals
Public transport: Quai des Antilles, Gare Maritime, Salorges
Self-service bicycles: Grue Jaune (n°103), Gare Maritime (n°42), Antilles (n°104), Brunelière (n°41), René Bouhier (n°76), Machine De L'île (n°43)
Explanatory video in French sign language and French subtitles available online here.
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Visual artwork.
