( To chew water)
In an interrupted moment, a glimpse instant
before closing. Is it emerging or is it sinking?
Will it fall in or is it coming out? A voice,
shouting for Regen (rain), tries to warn others,
kilometres away, of the sudden danger. The
echo of the vocal e finds its way out, through
the grating of a manhole cover, and gets lost in
the hustle and bustle of the streets.
Sewage and water supply systems are the
connecting points between the performative and
multimedia works of Lea Geerkens and the
sculptures of Carmen Arias. Their interest lies in
the processes that, below ground and out of
sight, are essential to everyday life: pipes,
tunnels, the people who keep them running. The
exhibition surveys urban waterways, confronting
them with the human body as a water-based
organism.
The channelled and controlled network of
wastewater stretches through the city’s
underground in over 2000 kilometres of
pipelines. Munich’s former streams, once
labelled as “unbearable obstacles” to the
expansion of subway networks, have been
partially drained and erased. Some others were
lowered and kept under the streets. By analysing
the ongoing flow path that drink and sewage
water undertake, as a system of connection and
dependency, both the subterranean layer of the
city and human bodies seem to be transitory
vessels of the same circuit.
In the performance “Drinking from someone's
back”, some of the formal aspects of these
connections are set into practice. Five
performers move around the exhibition space
with a long hose that enables them to dialogue
through a negotiation of giving and taking.
The works of the exhibition swing between the
inside and the outside of the canalisation.
Echoes of these rooms set us in a scenario that is
often associated with disgust and whose plans
are kept secret and remain unseen to prevent
illicit activities.
The preparation of the show included a parallel
series of excursions into the sewage system and
an interview with a sewage worker, which can be
glimpsed in Lea Geerkens’ video and sound
installation. Inside the tunnel, human
swallowing and digestive noises are heard.
The surface of the city is tangible, visible, real;
while deepness implies detaching from the
known reality. Beneath our feet, caves of
concrete exist. Stormwater tanks are giant
examples of the invisible infrastructure of the
visceral layer of the city, and essential in the
expectable event of increasing extreme rainfall.
Their high, circular columns resemble those
formed out of the union of stalactites and
stalagmites in stone formations. And just like
palaeolithic caves, they offer a mythical space to
project our imagination into.
In archaeological practice, teeth are used to
learn about human interaction with the
landscape. A tooth collects information about
the ingested materials and stores it in sections -
comparable to the rings of a tree trunk- divided
through the tooth’s gradual growth. Carmen
Arias’ ceramic sculptures refer to this practice
and suggest the act of chewing as a primitive and
natural form of communication with the
environment, by exploring one’s surroundings
through the mouth.
Chewing water seems to be an ineffective
attempt to stop its flow, to control it.
It suggests a consistency different from the
expected fluid one.
before closing. Is it emerging or is it sinking?
Will it fall in or is it coming out? A voice,
shouting for Regen (rain), tries to warn others,
kilometres away, of the sudden danger. The
echo of the vocal e finds its way out, through
the grating of a manhole cover, and gets lost in
the hustle and bustle of the streets.
Sewage and water supply systems are the
connecting points between the performative and
multimedia works of Lea Geerkens and the
sculptures of Carmen Arias. Their interest lies in
the processes that, below ground and out of
sight, are essential to everyday life: pipes,
tunnels, the people who keep them running. The
exhibition surveys urban waterways, confronting
them with the human body as a water-based
organism.
The channelled and controlled network of
wastewater stretches through the city’s
underground in over 2000 kilometres of
pipelines. Munich’s former streams, once
labelled as “unbearable obstacles” to the
expansion of subway networks, have been
partially drained and erased. Some others were
lowered and kept under the streets. By analysing
the ongoing flow path that drink and sewage
water undertake, as a system of connection and
dependency, both the subterranean layer of the
city and human bodies seem to be transitory
vessels of the same circuit.
In the performance “Drinking from someone's
back”, some of the formal aspects of these
connections are set into practice. Five
performers move around the exhibition space
with a long hose that enables them to dialogue
through a negotiation of giving and taking.
The works of the exhibition swing between the
inside and the outside of the canalisation.
Echoes of these rooms set us in a scenario that is
often associated with disgust and whose plans
are kept secret and remain unseen to prevent
illicit activities.
The preparation of the show included a parallel
series of excursions into the sewage system and
an interview with a sewage worker, which can be
glimpsed in Lea Geerkens’ video and sound
installation. Inside the tunnel, human
swallowing and digestive noises are heard.
The surface of the city is tangible, visible, real;
while deepness implies detaching from the
known reality. Beneath our feet, caves of
concrete exist. Stormwater tanks are giant
examples of the invisible infrastructure of the
visceral layer of the city, and essential in the
expectable event of increasing extreme rainfall.
Their high, circular columns resemble those
formed out of the union of stalactites and
stalagmites in stone formations. And just like
palaeolithic caves, they offer a mythical space to
project our imagination into.
In archaeological practice, teeth are used to
learn about human interaction with the
landscape. A tooth collects information about
the ingested materials and stores it in sections -
comparable to the rings of a tree trunk- divided
through the tooth’s gradual growth. Carmen
Arias’ ceramic sculptures refer to this practice
and suggest the act of chewing as a primitive and
natural form of communication with the
environment, by exploring one’s surroundings
through the mouth.
Chewing water seems to be an ineffective
attempt to stop its flow, to control it.
It suggests a consistency different from the
expected fluid one.
Exhibition text by Carmen Arias and Lea Geerkens
Duo show curated by Olena Balun.
AkademieGalerie, Munich.
May 2025
Photographic documentation: Alexander Jeskulke