The Weight of Air

This is how Szymanowska explains her work: The flag – because J’ve always associated it with air and it is a traditional symbol of power, sovereignty and control. The human – because it is about issues that are both the causes and consequences of aur (human) hegemony in the world. This is why the human depicted in this work is striving for self-improvement and overcoming his weaknesses. Despite his gigantic (superhuman?) effort, he demonstrates his power. I put the flag on wheels because I wanted a rover, with all the meanings it carries (e.g. the space race between the USSR and the USA, regard/ess of cost), but a/so because of the sci-ft references. I wanted the flag to convey something of the context of travel, exploration, conquering new war/ds, but a/so that American kind of thinking in terms of “the sky is the limit.” At the same time, however, this “poor rover” of mine (which a/so triggers association with a small trailer), enc/osed and cut off from the world, has a kind of impasse about it and basically seems to be the resu/t of rumination. Like this poor water tower, which has stood here for 120 years, a survivor unscathed by the war, and yet it is … redundant. Not because it has broken down, but because while it’s been standing here, the world has moved on. And that was basically the starting point for me. I wanted to talk about this very human need to reach