Presented in association with the French Embassy in Ireland with the support of the Institut français as part of Novembre Numérique.
In modern times, the abundance of water and its constant availability paradoxically make it invisible. Underground circulation and complex hydrological systems, such as karsts, are relegated to the background of everyday life. Water becomes a mere factor of production.
Faced with this reality, initiatives are emerging. Counter-narratives are amplifying the voices and practices that are reinventing our relationship with water and the environment, away from the dominant discourses. In the Jura, the history of cooperatives, pioneers of social security, inspires collective water management. The karst, with its underground and borderless networks, calls for reflection on interdependence and the commons, inviting us to imagine new cooperative utopias around water.
In the form of an assemblage of aerial shots, 3D illustrations, interviews, and scientific images, this video essay explores crucial water issues in five chapters, from popular narratives to scientific knowledge, from the rejection of running water and its scarcity to the exploitation of rivers.
The presentation of this work is supported by the S+T+ARTS4WaterII programme and The French Embassy in Ireland and with the support of Institut français as part of Novembre Numérique.
DISNOVATION.ORG merges contemporary art, research & hacking to translate complex eco-social debates into operative and provocative exhibits critically. They create radical artworks staged as large laboratory experiments focused on energy, ecology, and economics that work as catalysts for crafting futures that diverge from prevailing narratives. Their exhibits, books, and videos permeated global cultural landscapes, fostering a critical dialogue at the nexus of artistic, political, and scientific inquiry. They co-edited A Bestiary of the Anthropocene with Nicolas Nova, an atlas of anthropic hybrid creatures, and The Pirate Book, an anthology on media piracy.
DISNOVATION.ORG’s works have been exhibited, performed, published and reviewed worldwide, including at the Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou, Jeu de Paume (Paris), Museum of Art and Design (New York), Fonderie Darling (Montréal), HMKV (Dortmund), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Ars Electronica (Linz), MU (Eindhoven), Strelka Institute (Moscow), China Museum of Digital Arts (Beijing), Chronus Art Center (Shanghai), Polytechnic Museum (Moscow), ISEA (Paris, Hong Kong), Elektra (Montréal), HEK (Basel)... Their work has been featured in Forbes, Wired, Vice, Motherboard, Libération, Die Zeit, Arte TV, Next Nature, Hyperallergic, Le Temps, Neural.it, Digicult, Gizmodo, and Filmmaker Magazine among others.
Support: Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura
Mediation-Production: À Demeure
This work was created as part of the Nouveaux Commanditaires initiative and the Creative Europe programme involving Belgium, Spain, and France
With the support of the Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires and the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation
Commissioned by Philippe Perrin, elected official of La Rixouse and representative on the regional council of the Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura, along with speleologists: François Jacquier, president of the Club-spéléo San-claudien, Anne Corriol, teacher at the Montmorot Agricultural High School, and Wim Cuyvers, architect and forester
Image credit: DISNOVATION.ORG
