Wheel from Paris to Corby is a response to the dreams projected by the high-speed train networks. In this promise, inherent from the first hours of rail transport, every remote destination is connected back to the metropolis: from Paris to London to Corby in a couple of hours. This renaissance of train travel as the only realistic alternative amongst our transport modes (apart from the bicycle) makes us hesitate to deconstruct the ensemble of our train culture: the tracks, the trains, the stations, the services, the comfort, the carriage, the tickets; all these technical and cultural inventions grew over the last 150 years into one interlocked entity. But at the same time all of these things could have a life of their own. Any of the elementary parts could, if they would be developed for a singular purpose, grow beyond their dull life as a subordinate member of the machine ensemble. In this sense Paris Corby is a lonely wheel turning around itself and moving forward to its destination, giving us a glimpse into the narratives of our mechanical systems yet to come, after our current one has collapsed.
Commissioned by Fermywoods Contemporary for the exhibition Double Signature,
