TRIALED BY WATER* / 2023 / ONGOING [excerpt]
Project carried out as part of Kolektyw Hydroza / Hydroza Collective first exhibition Who will be the last to cry? at Foto Pracownia Wschodnia in Warsaw, Poland.
As a child, I loved being in the water. My parents often took me to the seaside. Water has become a symbol of relaxation for me. During the most difficult period of the pandemic, I was drawn to the river, the lake. I always associate water with rest. With a warm bath after a long, tiring day. With cleansing.
Through water, as a symbol of purification in the Christian religion, witches were verified. This was so-called water ordeal. The accused - bound, naked or in underwear - was thrown into the nearest water reservoir. Drowning was a proof of innocence, resurfacing resulted in torture and a trial that usually ended up at the stake.
The first water ordeals took place in ancient Mesopotamia. In medieval Europe, they were used in criminal and civil trials. This peculiar method based on ignorance of the physical laws, resurfaced in the early modern times during witch hunts. The church banned it at the beginning of 13th century, but city courts often used it in witchcraft trials. It was mostly used before the trial even started, as a kind of hint for a judge.
Although many clergymen and jurists pointed out the fallibility and brutality of the water ordeal, for the average person, it was unequivocal evidence of guilt.
I'd like to get some of that water back. Maybe a little bit for myself, maybe a little bit for the defendants. Through a series of (al)chemical procedures involving photographic emulsion, wandering through images from childhood, tarot or art history, I return to its meditative properties.
* The term comes from the files of the trial of Dorota Piotrowa, known as the Kashubian, accused of practicing witchcraft. The woman was tested by water. Thrice bathed, three times she came to the surface. As a result, she was imprisoned and tortured, source: AP w Bydgoszczy, AmN, ref. no. 131. Protocols of trials conducted against witches before the jury court of Nowe, 1689-1747.
Related links:
Hydroza Collective instagram
2023 Water is an alchemical substance | music mix | Czeczota radio show at Radio Kapitał
Music lecture on water as alchemical substance inspired by txt of Astrida Neimanis Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water.