Water Negotiation — Kanako Hayashi

2017

Single Channel Video (HD 16:9) 4 mins, and Installation (Clay, Soil and Water)

Venue: Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

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- How can I use the wind? How strong is the boat? How can I make the boat swim? -

Her current video performance concentrates on the negotiation between natural energies like wind and water, her own body and a small boat at the size of her hand that she tries to make swim. The situation cannot be controlled by herself, many factors influence the movement of the boat. By trying to make the boat swim, many questions come up. A conversation takes place between the swimmer and the small object. How can I use the wind? How strong is the boat? How can I make the boat swim? As the boat is quite small, it needs to be protected. But it can only be well protected with a distance between body and object, if the swimmer comes too close, it would stop moving or even drown. In the floating lake the balance between lake and boat needs to be negotiated. That negotiation is shown in the direction of swimming, which is dependent on the interaction between all the conditions and cannot be controlled by the swimmer alone. At this moment, the artist recognizes quite clearly, that she is a part of nature, too. But nevertheless it is not easy to accept these restricted conditions.
The video is accompanied by an installation of balls made of water from the Spree river and natural clay. They are all of different sizes and individual shapes. The smallest ones are hand size, the biggest one takes up approximately the same space then the artists body. At the exhibition opening some balls were already dry and some still wet. The drying process is an invisible process, we cannot see the water evaporate but we can perceive that the color gets lighter and the object itself, too. Also a change between fragility and strength can be observed. The playful placement in the gallery also provokes a negotiation between the objects and the audience and reminds us of being part of the space.　— Text by Vera Feder

Camera and Edit: Arthur Debert