Janusz Bałdyga, Jan Domicz, Lia Dostlieva, Nikita Kadan, Oliver Kossack, Dominika Kowynia,
Michał Matejko, Agnieszka Mastalerz, Ewa Sułek, Krzysztof Żwirblis
Janusz Bałdyga:
THE WHEEL GOES ROUND, 2012/2023, post/performance, upholstery tape, 100 m. photograph 50x50 cm.
DECEIVED-SAVED, 2008/2009, post/performance, glass, upholstery tape, photograph 70x100 cm.
Can the trace of performance be transformed into an autonomous message?
The question is about the possibility of creating an autonomous, independent sign, which would answer the question of whether after an ephemeral form, such as performance, only memory and archives in the form of photographic and film records remain.
I decided to translate the ideas of my performances into an autonomous installation based on the materials I used, my image, and, above all, the mechanics of the action. In both works, the mechanics of the scroll, and therefore of unrolling and rolling, determines the nature of the event. It is the mechanics of gesture related to the material I use that determines the changes in meaning.
I would like to preserve in the public space the ideas of my performances in the form proposed at the exhibition at Lescer Art Center. The video and photographic documentation is a closed form, while the installations that are made after the performance project into the future, and in my opinion, this is where their special value lies, at least for me as the initiator of the creative process.
Jan Domicz:
Open (tomorrow), 2023, panic handle, wood, paint, 18x130x12 cm.
The work consists of two elements: a panic handle and a piece of wood painted silver. The same handle used to be installed in the door, horizontally. A crowd pushing against the door can collectively open the door by pressing the handle. So can a single person. Or a piece of wood pressed so that the lever is all the way in (and the potential door are open on both sides).
Dominika Kowynia:
Feast, 2017, oil on canvas, 40x30 cm.
The painting is non-new, I painted it based on a photo of a birthday party that took place more than two decades ago. This party is a thing of the past, but also every party carries the seeds of rapid obsolescence, I think.
Matejko Michał:
The False, Drawe 2023, installation, cranes, drawer sides, 150x150x230 cm.
The installation refers to the drawer as an analogue storage medium. Though the arrangement of its elements falsify pragmatic project assumptions. Both displacement and multiplication glitch the user manual. Simulating such a way of constructing reveals incompleteness of the system, allowing for being surprised by possibilities. False drawer might at the same time be just an illusion of an error. The modification alters information that can be stored.
Agnieszka Mastalerz:
no mental scars, no nursed grudges, 2022, digital video, excerpt 00:05:47
I wanted to realize a piece with two acrobats of different ages who would be able to perform together figures requiring i.a. strength and trust. As a result, in the video no mental scars, no nursed grudges, the older girl becomes a support for the younger one.
The exercises were recorded with two cameras, one of which was fixed on a robot. The robot analyzed the movements in close-ups and slow-motion so that all the gestures and strains are detectable. The title of the work comes from Zygmunt Bauman’s From Pilgrim to Tourist – Or A Short History of Identity, from the passage The Player.
Supports (Arbroath, I), 2022, medium format photography, pigment ink print on Moab Entrada Natural Rag 300gsm archival paper, steel frame, museum glass, acid-free back, edition 1/3 + 2AP, 100x100cm
While taking a walk through the University of Warsaw Botanical Garden, I noticed sculpture-like, rickety, steel structures used in horticulture to shape plants. Even though their purpose is to define how the plants will grow and in which direction they should develop, they restrict the movement.
Since 2020, I have been observing and analyzing various plant supports — architectural constructions produced not only out of metal but also wood. I have been making analog photographs of them, mostly in black and white — to better focus on the composition and not to distract attention from the topic.
The photograph Supports (Arbroath, I) was realized during my residency in Hospitalfield, Scotland, in May 2022.
Krzysztof Żwirblis:
Bond, 2022-23, photographic documentation of activities and installation.
Bond because what connects can also imprison.
The activities in Fort Szczęśliwice and the installation made of acrylic and wool yarn echo the entanglements and manipulations made possible as a result of the use of spy software. Strained red threads, although resembling the beams of laser sights, have their retention. They impede movement, but they surrender to it, they can also be broken.
