Running waters

Running waters
A res­i­dency crossed by The Bièvre river between Pauline Perplexe and Bétonsalon

The Bièvre River flows into the Seine in Paris, at the Austerlitz train sta­tion, after a 35 km journey through the depart­ments of Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne and Paris, where it used to flow through the 13th and 5th arrondisse­ments. Its sources are in La Minière ponds, near Guyancourt. Once open to the air, it has suf­fered the fate of many small urban rivers: pol­luted, chan­nelled and dis­persed. It has been com­pletely cov­ered in Paris since 1912 and in the sub­urbs from Antony to Gentilly since the 1950s, with the excep­tion of short sec­tions recently brought to light. In Arcueil, The Bièvre flows under Pauline Perplexe, a former family house run by artists and con­verted into an inde­pen­dent place of artistic pro­duc­tion and exhi­bi­tion, and con­tinues under­ground, indis­cernible, near Bétonsalon, in the 13th arrondisse­ment.

The cov­ered riverbed of the Bièvre under the garden of Pauline Perplexe in Arcueil, March 2022 © Pauline Perplexe.

Taking as a pre­text and source of inspi­ra­tion the path of this under­ground water that links Pauline Perplexe to Bétonsalon, we will take advan­tage of this invis­ible link to cor­re­spond, send mes­sages in bot­tles, pursue artistic research and share it. Through monthly meet­ings com­bining visits, walks, work­shops, sur­veys of texts and paths, this pro­ject will be an oppor­tu­nity to share our prac­tices and know-hows. Each ses­sion will include an invi­ta­tion to a researcher, artist or activist, who will bring another approach to the issues addressed.

Running waters receives the sup­port of the Ministry of Culture - DRAC Ile-de-France within the frame­work of the deploy­ment of SODAVI-F, Schéma d’Orientation pour les Arts Visuels en Ile-de-France.