Axel Straschnoy (born 1978) is a visual artist and filmmaker from Buenos Aires, based in Helsinki. His work deals with the social practices surrounding objects of knowledge.
In 1736, Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis led a scientific expedition to the Tornio valley with the objective of establishing the precise shape of the Earth. La Figure de la Terre is a short film based on the book he wrote upon his return.
Dr Osmo Pekonen, the foremost authority on the expedition stars in the role of Maupertuis. Anders Celsius is played by Dr Johan Stén, also a researcher of the history of science in the 1700s.
“In La Figure de la Terre, we follow a process where we see layered projections and representations of men and their obsessions. Here, the re-enactment's original event has been lost from the beginning – it itself was already staged for somebody, somewhere else. Meanwhile, life, history and fiction intertwine so that it becomes impossible to tell them apart. “
Saara Hacklin, Despite all the difficulties: On Axel Straschnoy's La Figure de la Terre