With this monument erected to the glory of aviation, Raimund Abraham offered the vision of an airplane piercing a wall, like an arrow pointed skywards. As a celebration of man in his conquest of the forces of nature, this arresting image nevertheless introduced a chaotic and paradoxical principle. Here, the megalith underscores the dazzling nature of the movement running through it, as much as it grasps, constrains and finally reifies the movement itself. The iconic power of the drawing resides in this telescopic impact between sky and earth, echoing the “cryptic” collusions theorized by Paul Virilio at Nevers (Sainte-Bernadette du Banlay, 1963-1966), consummating the bankruptcy of the modernist space in an apocalyptic vision.
Aurélien Vernant
