Filatova Natalia

“Dot” Series — home performance photodocumentation

This series was inspired by the works of Sengai Gibon, an artist and a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Rinzai school. I decided not only to visualize my interpretation of the painting Circle, Triangle, and Square using instant photographs, but to literally live through it.

The minimalist work of the artist is also known in Europe as The Universe, meaning all that exists. The symbols are interpreted as representations of water — the circle, fire — the triangle, and earth — the square. This was Sengai Gibon’s vision of the universe. This painting prompts me to reflect on what a person truly needs to exist. What do I personally need to exist?

Part one, last and only: being

Over the last 10 years, since leaving Donetsk, I have had to move into many apartments, none of which became a home, so moving into a new rental space has become a routine I am used to.

This time, I lived for 2 months in an entirely empty space without excess belongings — only the essentials: access to water, a bathroom, a table and laptop for work, and two sets of clothes. I documented this experience of giving up familiar things on Polaroid, and later printed the photos on recycled paper with seeds to remind myself that any difficulties, real or imagined, exist only in our minds, and everything we truly need for life is already within us.

After two weeks, I realized that comfort from most things we are used to is purely symbolic. I didn’t miss the bed itself, but the space where it should be, defining the rest area. So I brought home a few items — a stone instead of a pillow, and marked the rest area with branches I gathered in the park. I placed one of them in water, and after a month, it blossomed.

Natalia Filatova