The photographs record moments of actual physical danger for the artist, who has taken falls and created physically hazardous sets to position his body just so. A magician never reveals his secrets, but he safeguards particularly demanding stunts with a trapeze-like wire (that are later digitally erased) to capture just the right moment of peril. To better inform this series, Skarbakka invokes the words of existentialist Martin Heidegger, who described existence as struggling to catch oneself after being thrown into an already existing world and thus into its mortal possibilities. The Struggle to Right Oneself hits the nail on this philosophic head, reminding us to hold onto the handrail and brace for the ever-present uncertainty.

¶ 7:51 AM