horizon 80, ile, calanques de Marseille Photograph - Limited Edition of 1

Born in Casablanca (Morroco) in 1961, the artist works and lives in Marseille (South of France). He first dedicated his work to etching. In 1989, he was one of the first artists to invent digital art. This new artwork (digital images) are exposed in many group and solo exhibitions. ------- Water, or the elusive nature of the world. The sea, waves, the horizon, these all existed long before the arrival of man and will continue to exist, aloof and indifferent for time eternal. The elusive nature of the world with the sea, waves, the horizon, all seem like obstacles in opposition to man. How then can we be part of what eludes us; water running through our fingers, a wave appearing from nowhere or the horizon which seems to go still further as we advance? In one of his first photographs, Marc Chostakoff shows the sea in the horizon. For just an instant, and by clever positioning of a series of geometrical forms over the horizon, there seems to be some resistance and the imperturbable line of the horizon seems disputed. In later pictures Marc Chostakoff will, like an architect, “construct” the sea by creating the unexpected : stairs of water, an orthogonal waterfall, an isolated block of water, a sea-island in the middle of the sea itself, holes and gaps in the sea. Virtual blocks of water will appear creating in their wake hollow blocks of the same volume, representing a potential threat and danger to anybody venturing nearby. The effect is disquieting, utopian and fascinating. In another photo, on-lookers with their backs turned, are looking at an improbable shimmering waterfall. The barrier they are leaning on is all that comes between them and a strangely enticing precipice. Even when the gaps of water are in the forms of a cross, of circles or just simple survey map signs, there is something very strange about them. What is under the water? How can one decide what exactly determines the visible surface? What do the gaps of water represent? MC manipulates the sea infinitely. Curiously, the sea seems rock-like in these creations. The sea which forms the divisive split in the Vieux Port in Marseille is solidified. Chostakoff plays back and forth between solids and liquids and between fluids of different density. There’s an element of danger in the image.