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3D printing and 11 drawings
200 x 100 x 8 cm
Installation View: Venice Biennale, Italy
Inspired by the ingenious destruction of the Vendôme Column, visual artist Nidhal Chamekh proposes in the Anti-Clock Project (2015) to demolish the infamous Mongela, also known as the November 7 Clock tower in the center of Tunis during the most recent uprisings in 2011. All the references to November 7 and others references to the numerological cult of the Ben Ali regime in public space were destroyed by the revolting masses, with the exception of the master signifier of the authoritarian landscape.
One of the eleven graphite drawings, extending Chamekh’s 3D printed cartographic installation, renders visible the detailed demolition plan of the Commune’s responsible engineer Jules Iribe. To avoid any collateral damage to the fabric of the Vendôme Square, Iribe had foreseen to attach a triple rope to the top of the Column, connecting it to a capstan held on the ground by an anchor. Monitored closely by an astronomical telescope, the efforts of half a dozen men made the capstan turn and the three cables tighten and slowly come together. By operating the capstan, the Column had to give way to its base where it was sawn horizontally a little above the pedestal, and eventually fell on the bed of fascines.
Joachim Ben Yakoub. Re-animating the Monumental Spirit of Solidarity of the Paris Commune From Tunis to Réunion Island.
In the Funambulist, Issue 34:The Paris Commune and the World