Passage Souterrain / Swallowed by the asphalt

Swallowed by the asphalt was a durational research focused on the subterranean layer of the constructed landscape and the connotations it has received over decades through literary and film references.

The research used the practical example of a Parisian underpass situated in the 16th Arrondissement to analize the role such spaces play in contemporary Western society. This underpass was closed in 2012 as part of a renovation plan that affected the right bank of the Seine’s walkside. When substituted by a traffic light, the original function of the underpass was no longer needed. Its dissappearence would have remained unnoticed if it wouldn’t have been for the documentation of the space that existed because of the exhibition series that Mario Canal conducted between 2005 and 2012 in the passage’s interior.

The fact that any alternative use of the space was ignored and that the responsible authorities preferred to keep the space trapped under the asphalt unveils a subtle reaction against certain societal groups, showing a lack of empathy towards their presence in the shared landscape. City authorities often justify the closure of passageways or tunnels, along with other common structures, by advocating for cleanliness or safety concerns.
However, these measures frequently erase essential spaces for marginalized communities (a shelter, a place to meet, to sleep...). The moment of disruption, in this case the closing of the space, negates the possibility of such alternative uses while remaining an almost imperceptible decision for most members of society.

As it was discovered during the research, the room is still accessible through a manhole.
This raised questions about the authoritie’s decision-making and led to imagine the implications of potential public spaces being trapped beneath the asphalt, beyond our sight and reach.

The project finished with an sculptural intervention in situ: a sculpture-stool that aimed to reflect on the alternatives uses of what Marc Auge defined as non-lieu (no place). The stool is to be understood as the first element needed, to transform a place “to pass” into a place “to stay”. The sculpture has been permanently installed in the interior of the passage, changing the reading of the space, for whoever accesses it at some point.

This research also led to an (ongoing) series of sculptural objects that play with the satirical comparison between Paleolithical caves and more banal spaces, such us the passage. By elevating it to the status of archaeological monument,
inaccessible to the public, the logical way to proceed would be to study it and later on, reproduce it in a museum setting, as a facsimile or doppelgänger.

The reproduction of such spaces, focuses on some of its characteristic functional objects, such as the
mannhole or the ladder steps. Objects that take the human size as a reference, what emphasizes the relationship between the human body and the interior of the subterranean landscape. After all, a manhole is an opening built just large enough for a subject to enter and disappear under the asphalt.