In 2013, when we visited the Belle Usine of the energy company Forces Motrice in Fully, the turbines of the hydroelectric power station were already at a standstill due to a technical defect.
We had to think of Georges Bataille’s The Accursed Share (La Part Maudite); his theoretical treatise on general economy, which he published a few years after the Second World War:
I will begin with a fundamental fact: the living organism, by dint of an interplay of energies on the surface of the globe, in principle receives more energy than is necessary for the preservation of life. The excess energy (wealth) can be used for the growth of a system (such as an organism). If, however, the system can no longer grow and the excess energy can no longer be completely absorbed by its growth, it must necessarily be lost without profit. Intentionally or not, the energy must be spent either gloriously or catastrophically.
The thought of all that dammed-up hydropower laying idle gave rise to a great desire to squander the water which was no longer being used to drive the turbines. A fountain ought to rise above the industrial building and be visible from afar.
Our initial written request to the Force Motrice in Fully was drafted as follows:
«[…] With regards to waste, culture and art traditionally play a central role. As part of our Triennale contribution, we wish enquire whether it would be possible for us to squander some of the water from the Lac de Fully during the two and a half month exhibition period.» […]
Installation with video (17 min.) and cinema chairs
SwitzerlandExhibitions
2015: Kunstmuseum Olten
2014: Belle Usine, Fully