The limits of control, by Pep Vidal

CONFLUÈNCIES. Artistic interventions in the towns of Route 99

The presence of the Bellús reservoir in the municipality of Sempere is very important. Looking out from its scenic viewpoint, the image of all the water it holds is impressive. But what lies beneath the dam? I asked myself that same question, and the people of the area explained to me that, not that long ago, these lands were swallowed up by the water. The construction of the dam in 1995 in order to control the flow of the Albaida River, flooded part of the memory of the villages located around its perimeter.

Pondering on these real (past) and potential (future) floods while walking around the edge of the town, in an abandoned meadow, I found a group of stones and some “strange things” scattered and half submerged, this time, by the vegetation.

My suggestion in Sempere consisted of measuring, classifying and reorganising all the elements in this abandoned meadow into geometric shapes. An intervention that evokes the submerged history under the water and which reflects on the limits of control.

You can download here the complete file of my intervention in Sempere.

Pep Vidal (Rubí, Barcelona, 1980) is a Mathematics graduate and has a Doctorate in Physical Sciences. He combines his artistic practice with teaching at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His artistic interest is in the infinitesimal changes that are always produced, everywhere, linking his research to vital experiences.