And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire, 2019

In And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire, a classical fountain fantastically spouting liquid flames takes us beneath the Earth’s crust to evoke the constant churning of magma within its mantle. Even in the most frigid regions of the Earth, this “liquid fire” constantly flows. Likewise, beneath the layers of politics and symbolism inherent in ideas of nature, a certain autonomous state of the planet persists—and occasionally erupts to the surface. The fountain is an ancient symbol dating to some of the earliest human settlements. In this video, Charrière’s fountain depicts an absurd state that implies the coexistence of opposite elements: water and fire, both of which humankind has hubristically sought to control. It foregrounds how the ability to manipulate water has shaped the rise and fall of civiliza­tions, from the irrigation networks of Mesopotamia to the aqueducts of Rome, turning arid landscapes into fertile ground. Dams, canals, and reservoirs have not only tamed rivers but also concentrated power, determining who thrives and who is left to thirst. Maritime trade routes carved the paths of empires, while the race to harness hydroelectricity redefined the boundaries of industry and progress. Even now, as glaciers melt and groundwater depletes, the struggle to command water remains a defining force in geopolitics, survival, and the fate of the planet. The extravagant and wasteful visage of the fountain embodies our inability to come to terms with this. And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire turns this traditional iconography of the fountain on its head, with the spring of life now dominated by flames licking upward. Here, fire has an am­biguous significance, for it is at once a figure of destruction and creation: across many cultures, the mythos of fire’s conquest corresponds to the beginning of civilization.