Soft bound publication, 6.5 × 8.5 in
Edition of 100

For Ensayo 4, Neumann travels to Mallorca — Deia to collaborate with Balthazar Klarwein, whose name also serves as inspiration for the title of this piece. Revisiting the Happening and its documentation via still photography and video (echoing Ensayo #2) Neumann comes back to the imaginary of ‘the island’ (as with Ensayo #3), re-addresing questions of seclusion and separation imposed by geography. Under Neumann’s direction, Balthazar Klarwein, a native of Mallorca — Deia, sets out to build a raft using found objects and materials, before setting off past the shore waves and attempting an escape from the island.

Immigration, immigrant stories and the consequences of migration is once again a central point in Neumann’s investigation. The action of migrating away from an island (referencing Cuban exiles from the 1980’s and 1990’s and most recently Puerto Rican exiles post Hurricane Maria) compounds the questions around what home is and surfaces immigrants’ willingness to sacrifice everything to start anew in an unknown land despite the visible and invisible challenges that lay ahead.