2020
Plastic overshoes, clay, tape, plastelin, photographs, map
It is not in some hiding place that we will discover ourselves; it is on the road, in the town, in the midst of the crowd, a thing among things, a human among humans. Jean-Paul Sartre
We didn’t leave the apartment for days. We were not allowed to meet in groups. Schools, clubs, sports centers, parks, were closed or banned, police officers controlled movement, allowing only what was necessary. Restrictions affected larger cities more significantly than smaller towns, as in the former life regularly takes place in larger groups. Majority of citizens across the Globe shared the same restrictions, danger, and goal. The streets were deserted. Experiencing a crowd was impossible. The sparse encounter of two strangers in the public space would yield an unfamiliar experience of closeness. Luckily the other man is there; in parallel and together, I would think.
Once the first lockdown finished, I was drawn to experience the world I was taking part in, through the various walks in urban public space. The process of walking offers a phenomenologically coherent intertwining of body, mind, and vision. I was executing walks in random, central, and remote public spaces without controlling to what or to whom will I be exposed. I would turn into a street where something would attract me at that moment.
The work was realized as a part of the Q21 residency in MuseumsQuartier Wien invited by tranzit.org/ERSTE Stiftung.
