From a height of three meters, porcelain figurines are dropped on the ground, and the sound they make when they hit trips the shutter release. The result: razor-sharp images of disturbing beauty—temporary sculptures made visible to the human eye by high-speed photography technology. The porcelain statuette bursting into pieces isn't what really captures the attention; the fascination lies in the genesis of a dynamic figure that replaces the static pose. In contrast to the inertness of the intact kitsch figurines Klimas started out with, the photographs of their destruction possess a powerfully narrative character.

A Yemeni soldier, pictured through a vehicle's windscreen, which was damaged by a bullet, gestures out of the window, in Marib, Yemen October 15, 2015. Marib is a city that is heavily armed even by the standards of Yemen, where the ready availability of weapons helped start civil war and is now preventing anyone coming out on top. Yemenis often say there are three guns for every person, a boast that has become an urgent concern in a country where the United Nations says the humanitarian situation is "critical". (Photo by Angus McDowall/Reuters)

A Palestinian boy herds sheep in front of the ruins of Yasser Arafat International Airport, which was bombed by Israel in the past, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 5, 2016. Nabil Shurafa's travel agency in Gaza was once packed with clients booking flights to London, Paris, New York or cities across the Arab world. These days, he's lucky if anyone comes in, as so few people can get out. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

A protester is sprayed with mace by riot police after throwing a chair through a window of a business during the second night of demonstrations after a not guilty verdict in the murder trial of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, charged with the 2011 shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was black, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., September 16, 2017. (Photo by Lawrence Bryant/Reuters)

An illuminated Christmas tree leans against the window of a damaged house in Mayschoss in the Ahrtal valley, southern Germany, Tuesday, December 14, 2021. The region was hit by floodings exactly five months ago, causing the death of about 180 people. Amid the mud and debris still clogging the streets from last summer's devastating floods, residents of the Ahr Valley in western Germany are trying to spark some festive cheer with Christmas trees. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

An Elvis impersonator is reflected in the window of the Elvis Express at Central Station in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, January 5, 2023. Hundreds of Parkes Elvis Festival attendees will board the Elvis Express train from Sydney's Central Station on Thursday for a windy 450-kilometre journey to the central west. (Photo by Steven Saphore/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Marines finish a 10 kilometer training hike carrying 55 pound (25 kg) packs during Marine Combat Training (MCT) on February 22, 2013 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Since 1988 all non-infantry enlisted male Marines have been required to complete 29 days of basic combat skills training at MCT after graduating from boot camp. MCT has been required for all enlisted female Marines since 1997. About six percent of enlisted Marines are female. (Photo by Scott Olson/AFP Photo)

Adrienne Sipe (L) and Brooke Gilliam of Washington D.C. leap off a snow podium they made near the U.S. Capitol in Washington February 13, 2014. A deadly and intensifying winter storm packing heavy snow, sleet and rain pelted a huge swath of the U.S. East Coast on Thursday, grounding flights and shuttering schools and government offices. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)