Pursuing the Meaning of Everyday Life In Self-Defence

My public appeal before the exhibition opening:

I wish to speak about an aspect of motherhood that pertains to everyday life – the hustle and bustle, the series of mundane, monotonous, repetitive tasks whose effects are invisible, such as shaking sand out of a child’s shoes upon crossing the threshold of the house. In ‘The Cracks in Existence’, Jolanta Brach-Czaina makes it clear that “my very existence is directly threatened, as everyday life squanders it on tasks that seem inevitable but soon turn out to be unimportant”. Yes, there is less and less of me. You too? I am disappearing. Every day. Bit by bit. You too? „The solution, then, would be to uncover the meaning of the action in which I am participating. If it has any meaning at all. In any case, one cannot accept the role of an unwitting labourer of existential activities. And in self-defence, one must pursue the meaning of everyday life.” I am addressing mothers, fathers and carers. If this experience resonates with you, please bring the sand from your child’s shoes to the ‘Mother Earth’ exhibition. Together, we will try to give meaning to each of these grains. In self-defence.

I used the collected material to create a mini Zen garden. One could sink their hands into the layer of sand, tracing flowing lines with fingers, or do whatever helped slip into a meditative state, find calm, and distance from reality.

Soil is a nuisance to me. Like an uninvited guest, it intrudes on my private space and demands my attention. It keeps me on my toes. Shaking the sand out of my shoes is an expression of care for my child and my home, as well as for myself, because when I feel in control of the chaos, I feel good about myself. It is a task which, beyond its obvious function of maintaining order, actually stems from an inner need. It sets a rhythm, becomes a kind of ritual, and helps preserve peace of mind. It is a lesson in humility. What form does the meaning of this activity take for me? The sand, which I previously regarded as superfluous, has taken on the power of a building material. It has become one of the components of the glass from which the object was created – a totem that belongs to both the past and the future. The form, in the nature of a ‘frozen vortex’, refers to the cycle, movement and repetition. The hourglass reminds us of time, of transience, but also of duration. Stabilising organic matter allows us to master chaos, to keep in check a substance that slips through our fingers every day. It allows us to examine it closely.