APEX (2019) – Davide Bertocchi

Digital video from drone Dji Inspire 2 – Zenmuse X7 camera.
Looped video projection

A 360 degree close up video of the golden pyramidion (which is 3.6 m high and 20 m from the ground) on top of the Luxor obélisque in Place de la Concorde, Paris.

The obelisk is the oldest monument in Paris built by Pharaoh Ramses II about 3,200 years ago. Its location in Place de la Concorde, the centre of the city, was a highly symbolic place during the French Revolution. It is still today the scene of clashes and expressions concerning claims about society and is a highly secured area.

This golden pyramid-shaped geometry is, in this video, isolated from the rest like an autonomous sculpture, and seems to maintain all its original symbolic association with absolute power, social climbing and divine mystery.

The idea really came from an image I had in mind of this golden pyramid as a main character and then the city landscape in the background somehow disappearing. This project is mainly focusing on the specificity of the site and the challenge it was to be able to realise it.