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Zepp (Watercatcher) 2017
HD video with sound
While the cupping of the hands is in itself practical and purposive, the rotation of the back of the hands towards the flow of water is in contrast, ambiguous. Todes points out our bodily structure is fundamental to how the world is experienced. He describes this initially through our sense of direction which he links to the ‘functional symmetry of our front-back structured body’ (2001, p. 106). Our practical forward oriented way of encountering the world creates an ‘invariant sense of direction’ (2001, p.106). While we can change direction, our sense of direction as upright, bipedal forward-going creatures cannot change; we always face forward. This produces a spatiotemporal field where that which is faced and dealt with makes up an emergent and unfolding context of activity. At the same time what has already been faced and dealt with is behind us or in our past and history.
While Todes focused on the invariant sense of direction produced by our forward facing anatomical and perceptual structure of the body, it is worth reflecting upon the structure of our hands and relation to the rest of the body. While we work generally with our hands in front of us, they can also reach objects behind us, or to the side or above us. Our hands are also able to rotate and move freely in space, albeit with some assistance of the arm with lateral constraints. The hands’ structure is defined by its two sides; the palm of the hand and the back of the hand. The palm is not a ‘face’ or a ‘front’, but most usually an organ of the body that orients inwards towards the sides of the torso. At other times the palms of the hands open and busy themselves itself in practical work or social interaction.
Zepp’s sartorial session is structured around the activity interacting with water dispensed from the bucket and pulley system installed above. The use of the flowing water produces a narrative of corporal transformation of dry to wet. By orienting the backs of the hands to the flowing water Zepp appears to shift from an active mode where they catch the water in cupped hands to an acquiescent relation to the water. At that precise moment Zepp rotates the hands, he also orients the body towards the water, such that it flows directly onto shoulders and hair. This simple hand gesture fulfils an analogy for the body as a whole. While these hand movements have a practical purpose to catch the water, they also reveal an expressive mode, where the simple rotation indicates a more acquiescent relationship towards the water. The expressive gesture sets in train more extensive series of corporeal transformations.These were observed in his movements, gestures and behaviour and the garment he wears.