Christian Tagliavini’s «Voyages Extraordinaires» look Jules-Vernesque and, somehow, they are. This 2014 project is a new, eclectic homage to the imagery of the adventurous journey - respectively «Les Sélénautes», to the moon; «Une aventure Ovomarine», to the deep sea; «L'Octodescente magmatiques», down to the solid abysses in the center of the earth. Evocative, detailed, consistent, more than ever narrative and far beyond steampunk, the triple reportage portrays trips and vehicles, those who travel and those who don’t, words and worlds, objects and omĭna, i.e. presages. Each reportage, featuring a pervasive and recurring geometric leit-motiv (ogival, egg-shaped, octaedric), required French-sounding neologisms to render the novelty, same as happened to great inventors. To the observer’s surprise, the superbely hand-crafted mise-en-scène created by the artist and his team is here and there apparent, to insinuate the extraordinary volatility of this almost extracorporeal experience.
