Kerry Skarbakka

Performance-Based Photographer

Falling Photography

The Struggle to Right Oneself

The Struggle to Right Oneself © 2001-2014

Blue Tree © 2002
Blue Tree © 2002

The Struggle to Right Oneself is a series of performative photographs in which Skarbakka uses his own body to explore moments of falling, suspension, and physical instability. Working with climbing equipment, rigging, and practical effects, he stages these actions across domestic interiors, architecture, and natural landscapes. The photographs are made through physical performance for the camera, capturing the body between an initiating action and its consequence.

Life Goes On

Life Goes On
2005

Life Goes On was a performance presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2005 during which Skarbakka repeatedly fell, or was dropped, from the roof of the museum. Developed alongside The Struggle to Right Oneself, the work extended the physical act of falling into live performance and considered how individuals and communities respond in moments of crisis and adversity. The performance subsequently became the subject of national controversy when it was widely mischaracterized in the press as a reenactment of people jumping from the World Trade Center on September 11.