Kakia Catselli
Ballon d’essai
Curated by Thalia Spyridou
Phytorio, Nicosia
27 - 29 March 2026
Flow is the default. Control is imposed upon it; a threshold, a governing principle, a mechanism that ensures a balanced amount enters and leaves at any given moment. A valve does not produce or destroy; it regulates passage.
Memory is less precise. It is porous. It dissolves and it grows, absorbs from the present even as it attempts to hold the past. It has gaps, it lets things through. In this sense, it leaks in both directions. Photography functions here as imprint and trace. It does not represent; it records consequence.
Rhythm in the space is first heard, then seen. The ball moves from one side to the other, marking time through repetition rather than narrative. In each exchange, the players respond to one another, sustaining a field of relation.
The exhibition begins with four balloons. Each day, for its three-day duration, one is released. One remains, exposed to the elements, withstanding the passage of time. An attempt to endure, and an agreement to the consequences of enduring.
Across still images, found objects, and film, a shared grammar operates through different materials, exposing the gap between what is happening and what is registered. The exhibition unfolds between control and surrender. Neither is final, both are necessary.
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List of works
1. Three Photographic Takes, 2015, archival pigment print on baryta paper, 20 × 20 cm
2. Valve, 2026, metal valve
3. Suspended Fabric Aperture, 2026, linen panels, dual weave (open / herringbone)
4. Tennis Film, 2026, shot on Bencini Comet, 2 minutes 42 seconds, looped, with sound
5. Balloons, 2026, Latex balloons, helium-filled
Ballon d’essai
Curated by Thalia Spyridou
Phytorio, Nicosia
27 - 29 March 2026
Flow is the default. Control is imposed upon it; a threshold, a governing principle, a mechanism that ensures a balanced amount enters and leaves at any given moment. A valve does not produce or destroy; it regulates passage.
Memory is less precise. It is porous. It dissolves and it grows, absorbs from the present even as it attempts to hold the past. It has gaps, it lets things through. In this sense, it leaks in both directions. Photography functions here as imprint and trace. It does not represent; it records consequence.
Rhythm in the space is first heard, then seen. The ball moves from one side to the other, marking time through repetition rather than narrative. In each exchange, the players respond to one another, sustaining a field of relation.
The exhibition begins with four balloons. Each day, for its three-day duration, one is released. One remains, exposed to the elements, withstanding the passage of time. An attempt to endure, and an agreement to the consequences of enduring.
Across still images, found objects, and film, a shared grammar operates through different materials, exposing the gap between what is happening and what is registered. The exhibition unfolds between control and surrender. Neither is final, both are necessary.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List of works
1. Three Photographic Takes, 2015, archival pigment print on baryta paper, 20 × 20 cm
2. Valve, 2026, metal valve
3. Suspended Fabric Aperture, 2026, linen panels, dual weave (open / herringbone)
4. Tennis Film, 2026, shot on Bencini Comet, 2 minutes 42 seconds, looped, with sound
5. Balloons, 2026, Latex balloons, helium-filled
