This annual event has taken place on May 1st of every year since 2012 in the Paris metro. A group of runners, dressed in business attire, all join in the “rat race.” The result is an—only slightly—caricaturized representation of the competition, normalization, speed and alienation that underlie our everyday lives. The action targets the widespread rationalization of intervention in people’s lives, along with an obsession with profit: both are reified in urban space, particularly in public transit systems. Also called into question is the concept of the race itself: a race for time? For money? A race to win… or to escape?
Every year, this event takes on new ironic incarnations, depending on the inspiration of its participants. Means of documentation also vary by year (photography, video, etc.)
The race course begins at the République metro station and crisscrosses all of Paris. While waiting for the next train, runners are invited to continue the race up and down the platform.
