For centuries, Kalymnian men descended beneath the sea in search of sponges, using just a rope and a stone for guidance. With the advent of the Standard Diving Dress in the 1850s, further depths could suddenly be reached. This came at a cost, however, with many suffering paralysis, injury, and death due to decompression sickness. Into the 20th century, the pressure on sponge divers to collect higher yields grew in line with societal capitalist expansion. This pressure was ultimately exerted on their bodies.

Continuing her research into the changing conditions of watery ecosystems, and originally made as a two-channel installation, Esther van der Heijden’s short film presents not only the diver but also the sponges as bodies shaped by pressure. At one moment, in a candy-coloured decompression chamber a sponge is embraced, hugged by a pressure that goes just too far and makes the figure distort and compress. In other moments, we see a folk dance reenacting the plight of the divers. A man falls down, suddenly paralysed. With these performative moments and narrated through an interview conducted by the artist during a trip to the island, van der Heijden invites us into this story not as a history but as a memory.

The Dance of the Mechanic is screening as part of the New Perspectives block.

GB