TABAKALERA International Centre for Contemporary Culture. Donostia - San Sebastián

curator: Magda Kardasz

Water brings us comfort and tranquillity, its sound calms and gives inner strength. Immersion in warm water evokes in us a sense of security. The link we have with it is stored within our cellular memory — water is the environment from which we originate, both in evolutionary and in foetal terms. It rinses both tension and stress, relaxes the whole body,  brings rest to the mind, allows us to drift off to a point where we  sometimes fall asleep in the bath. Interestingly, ocean waves have a frequency of 12 cycles per minute — it is more or less the respiratory frequency of a sleeping adult who’s in a deep state of peace and security. This would indicate that a person in a state of calm and tranquillity is somehow in sync with the ocean.

The project consists of the Concha installation that gives viewers the illusion of immersing in water, shielding them from the outside world. The installation is accompanied by the sound of the artist breathing in a rate of 12 breaths  per minute. Video Fondness is a visual and audible description of yearning for water and the tranquillity that it offers. Completing the project are oil paintings on canvas – a record of the  artist’s lonely walk along the ocean shore.

We all come from the ocean, perhaps that is the reason why for centuries water has been ever-present in many rituals from various cultures. It is believed to have the power to purify, add strength and bring salvation. Project 12 per minute is a tribute of sorts to water as our  primordial home.