Iuliia Khatsanova
Keywords: Water, Agency, Life
Internship: Saman Saffarian Architectural Design
Read Thesis
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This story was born from an exploration of my relationship with water. Researching my behaviour and personal experience within my routine in the urban context, I realised that water is mainly a resource to me. I, therefore, wanted to understand its properties, peculiarities and its essence.
The project challenges my consumptive attitude towards water by inviting it in as a co-creator. I believe that through water’s own agency, I can collaborate and develop intimate relations with it. In this project, the presence of water in the air brings new life to an object. Allowed by the anisotropic properties of wood, I play with the process of veneer bending through humidity. Diverse but gentle forms of water and my actions come together in one scenography. We share fluidity and fragility, creating form, texture and movement in one life.
From experiments with the matter to my final film, the process of this research revolved around finding room to reshape the value that I give to water. It became a practice of switching my human-centric perspective by paying thorough attention to such a seemingly simple thing as water. Initially taking it for granted, experiencing it as a convenience only, water became more than matter: I discovered its potential as a co-creator.
In the movie multiple pieces are animated at the same time, the sculpture parts breathe in and out absorbing and giving out the life of humidity. Such sensitivity to water also represents my sensitivity, gained through this process. I let myself experience it and fully engage in our collaboration. The scenes of the movie captured the sacred moments of water changing the material, intertwining with a story of changing myself. There are different combinations of water, wood, and skin present in one frame, but they all tell one story. The story of wet liquid life.
The sculpture is a combination of branches and inserted veneer pieces. Both were separated from water source and appear solid and static when dry. A touch of any form of water makes a big change. It creates the life through fluent curling of the gentle veneer grains.