Szymon Hernik

The work 'szi awaits patiently its return' emerges from research into scuba diving and states of submersion. Underwater, the body and the sounds it produces is the default dialect of interaction - this is where communication is embedded. Gestures enable your ‘buddy’ - a person you dive and co-operate with- to read your state of being while the sounds of your body become the only way in which the release of pain can be communicated. 

Underwater communication needs to remain in constant negotiation with the changing conditions of the nautical environment. 'szi awaits patiently its return' explores this negotiation by creating signals that represent various stages of the dive for the diver to follow. These signals compose an uncharted world of relational existence.  

The work takes you through a circular system of passages and their interchanging dormant and active states. Alter-navigational tools become attainable to the extent that you ‘let go’ and commit to the dive.

Work developed in collaboration with Natalia Irena Nikoniuk.