— Running Around | 2015
Ria Pacquée

RUNNING AROUND delivers an absurdist yet thought-provoking reflection on the 'Urban Trail,' where Ria Pacquée runs through her hometown of Antwerp, circling a series of objects and structures she encounters along the way. The film cuts steadily from one location to the next as Pacquée moves non-stop, engaging with a range of often dismissed urban elements—objects and spaces that typically fade into the background of the city’s dense fabric.

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A dilapidated kiosk, an artificial hill crowned with a playground slide, a battered metal curb, a hexagonal flowerpot, a concrete ping pong table—each of these elements, usually overlooked as background noise, becomes the focal point of her attention. Through her repeated performative action, she reframes them with newly charged meaning, pulling them from obscurity, transforming them from passive or insignificant to strange and worthy of scrutiny.

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Her continuous circling and relentless movement disrupt the viewer's usual perception of these mundane objects, imbuing them with new significance. By engaging with the overlooked, the film invites us to reconsider these urban still lives and see what is often invisible in the rush of everyday life.