French skateboarder/artist Raphaël Zarka’s Formes du Repos found him exploring his curiosity for man-made structures and geometrical forms. He travelled the French countryside photographing unfinished concrete constructions – a lone pylon, an unfinished monorail – describing them as ‘involuntary sculptures’. It represented an artist of genuine substance. His first exhibition in the UK, Geometry Improved therfore comes as a great disappointment.
In Formes du Repos his images contrasted these so called ‘involuntary sculptures’ with the countryside around them. They stand as immovable, indelible marks upon their surroundings, monuments to the ever expanding urban environment. Zarka’s composition in these photographs is particularly effective, framing the shots with barren expanses or, in the case of the three works exhibited at Modern Art Oxford, vibrant greenery.
We get a flavour of this previous work with this current exhibition, including Zarka’s documentary films on the history of skateboarding, which demonstrate his fascination with engagement of public spaces, viewing them not as background but as medium. Sadly, however, these play a merely supporting role to the rather less successful Les Billes de Sharp, the main focus of Geometry Improved.
Les Billes follows much the same ‘found structure’ formula of which the artist is so fond. Zarka has taken one ‘found structure’, oak beams, and carved into them a second, diagrams by British astronomer Abraham Sharp. Although the method remains the same, the substance has all but evaporated. Meanwhile, ‘Les Deductions des Sharp’, a piece of plywood with a series of geometrical shapes cut out of it, flounders in the corner like an unfinished GCSE art project.
Whereas before, Zarka’s work spoke of a sincere fascination with the urban environment, it now lacks both immediacy and depth. Although the astronomical diagrams exhibit a degree of precision and intricacy, and have some aesthetic worth, the exhibit certainly isn’t striking nor does it appear to have any of the philosophical justification we would expect from Zarka’s work; you will find yourself getting bored fairly quickly.
Zarka’s photography demonstrates that he has a solid grasp on the use of space but that skill has not transferred to his installation; the seemingly random arrangement of beams that confronts you when you first enter crosses the line from mystery to meaninglessness – one gets the impression that he has not given his new medium much thought.
You could easily drop in for a brief shufti, but make sure you go to Sainsbury’s for your weekly food shop as well to make the trip worthwhile.
