‘8068km’ is the result of a new remote collaboration between Artist, Will Hurt and Curator, Aly Grimes. Through a shared interest in the relationships between architecture, monument and failure, the exhibition connects ‘Fordlândia’ and ‘Tativille’ – the unsuccessful quasi-utopian schemes of two of the 20th century’s seminal cultural figures – US industrialist Henry Ford and French auteur, Jacques Tati.

This project began following an application to Paris Drawing Lab where the duo developed an exhibition inspired by the film set of Tati’s iconic 1967 work ‘Playtime’ which features an enormous Modernist metropolis constructed by the Director from his own funds and ultimately led him to bankruptcy. 

For Bienial Sur we are delighted to present a new exhibition that connects Tati’s failed masterwork to the context of South America through Henry Ford’s ‘Fordlândia’ - a mini city in the Amazon rainforest built for the production of rubber- now a semi-inhabited ruin.

The exhibition draws parallels between the two self-funded projects both rooted in 20th century capitalist structures, yet touches on contemporary issues regarding the environment, sustainability and patriarchy.

The duo present a project grounded in research in response to these peculiar twin cities- gallery spaces will feature a series of 3D printed sculptures designed online by a socially distanced audience using custom software, and films procedurally edited according to datasets relating to the cities.