How can a selected slice of space and time contain the imprints of the irreversible past and the inevitable future?

Entering the exhibition space, we can see a dried-up riverbed with spirit levels on its barren, cracked surface. Although their placement appears to be random, on closer inspection it turns out that they are all in perfect horizontal position, marking the original location of the surface of the river, now disappeared. We do not know anything about what caused this river to dry up but its absence is present in the space. This is further confirmed by the presence of the spirit levels. Firstly, the principle of their operation is based on the lack of liquid: the position of a small air bubble trapped in the liquid indicates the horizontal state. Secondly, the coordinates indicated by the spirit levels can be interpreted as markers of the topography of absence.

What we can see upon entering the space is the imprint of something that is gone and irreversible, yet the water surface of the river and the power of the sun drying it are still present in it. Despite its static nature, the work visualises a process and poses questions about our own perception with the aim of inviting us to look at the drying imprints of our common reality with different eyes.

Borbála Szalai