Presence Exercises
Presence Exercises is a participatory installation that invites the audience to make paper boats by following a set of instructions. It consists of three written instructions, a video recording of me making the paper boats according to them, and a workstation where visitors can take part in the project themselves. The installation has been exhibited within the solo exhibitions In Search of Presence at Slendzinski Gallery in Poland and at Grilse Gallery in Killorglin.
Presence Exercises (Instructions)
Instruction 1: How to make a paper boat.
Instruction 2: How to make a paper boat with closed eyes.
Instruction 3: How to make a paper boat with closed eyes and without paper?
Series of three works: two drawings on paper and one instruction text on glass, graphic pen, Promarker, marker, 34 × 26 cm each, framed, 2025
Image by Ewa Pietruszko, courtesy of Slendzinski Gallery, Bialystok, Poland
Presence Exercises (Video)
HD Video, 15’21”, 2025
video still
The video shows me making paper boats according to the Instructions, a skill I learned in childhood, with three recordings played simultaneously: six times with eyes open, twice with eyes closed and without paper, and the boat made with eyes closed repeated five times.
Workstation for Exercising Presence, including: Presence Exercises (Instructions) — series of three drawings, table, chair, water-soluble paper for making paper boats, and paper boats created by the audience.
In Search of Presence, solo exhibition, Slendzisnki Gallery, Poland
Image by Ewa Pietruszko, courtesy of Slendzinski Gallery