End os po res
Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art pl. Szczepański 3a, Kraków bunkier.art.pl Director Magdalena Ziółkowska
Exhibition “Endospores” Duration
December 20, 2015–January 31, 2016
Curators
Anna Lebensztejn, Kinga Olesiejuk
Coordination Renata Zawartka Featured artists Mikołaj Długosz, Wojciech Gilewicz, Justyna Gruszczyk, Jan Hoeft, Kornel Janczy, Maciej Kurak, Mariusz Libel, Little Warsaw, Wojciech Puś, Rafani, Urszula Tarasiewicz, Roland Wirtz, Zorka Wollny, Jakub Woynarowski, Piotr Wysocki, Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries Location ground floor
As part of the task “Remembering. Bunkier Sztuki Collection 2015”. Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The works by Justyna Gruszczyk, Mariusz Libel, Wojciech Puś, Urszula Tarasiewicz and Jakub Woynarowski have been purchased as part of the project “There will be artction! Enhancement of the Bunkier Sztuki Collection”. The works by Mikołaj Długosz and Kornel Janczy have been purchased as part of the project “Experiencing Art: Enhancement of the Bunkier Sztuki Collection”. The works by Jan Hoeft, Little Warsaw, Rafani, Zorka Wollny, Piotr Wysocki and Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries have been purchased as part of the project “Remembering. Bunkier Sztuki Collection 2015”. Project co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Gallery Media Patronage
Exhibition Media Patronage
Publication accompanying the “Endospores” exhibition Edited by
Anna Lebensztejn, Kinga Olesiejuk
Translation Błażej Bauer Design, typesetting, preparation for printing
Agata Biskup
ISBN 978-83-62224-47-0 Publisher
Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art
Edition 1500 copies Kraków 2015
“Endospores” synthetically describes ways in which seem ingly noncollectable works of art last. Those are overly transient, too demanding in terms of conditions for them to function, susceptible to changes in surroundings, reactive to established relations, or deprived of their proper form as soon as planned actions are performed. In that regard they are more of living organisms than physically and substan tially structured artistic objects. The adapted term has twofold meaning in biology, and only relating both its interpretations to artworks depicts the characteristics thereof completely. It means, firstly, a scle rotium: physical, substitutive form in which to endure cir cumstances unfavourable to full development; secondly, a spore produced inside the organ destined for that pur pose: reminiscence of a bygone state and, at the same time, prefiguration of possible shapes. It is therefore a veget ative form as well as stage of and way to maintain the life cycle. Endospores of artworks are, as is the case for living creatures, not quite justly treated as far-from-ideal substi tutes of original entities. Resulting from organic structure of works, they make a natural answer to volatility of external conditions. And although it is to them that reactive beings owe survival, evolution and expansion to new territories, they usually remain unrecognised and underexposed. The array of pieces selected for this exhibition, all of which are held in the Bunkier Sztuki Collection, amalgamates pre cisely those aspects of artworks that are most likely unap parent from unaccompanied presentation. The selection also displays circumstances, mediations and tangible means behind creating the works and making them an object of collecting. A variety of clues gradually unfolds along the narrative path. Impermanence and momentariness of artis tic events have been employed as the starting point. Forms of their materialisation—performance acts, visual shows, concerts, interactions—as well as various ways of recording them are successively revealed. Next stop: processual devel opment of artworks, allowing to take a closer and longer look at pieces that change form in time and space. Then, artistic projects whose material versions are eventually in multiplicate, which permits to present their constituents in ambiguous and formally diverse combinations. Finally, more or less explicit complementary materials, determined by past or determining future realisations; in other words,
tangible record of works that function as authors’ artistic instructions or documentation. This accumulation of what is material and tangible perversely accentuates different angles on dematerialisation that the presented works demonstrate, which is the current focus of Collection growth activities. The term, on the one hand, applies to artworks volatile and ephemeral in nature—of sub stance dissolving over time—or existing in their entirety only during the course of some event, with its essential perform ative element being momentary and unrepeatable. On the other hand, dematerialisation stresses the immateriality dis tinguishing certain artistic phenomena: ideas and relations fostered collectively by artists and viewers; shifting emphasis from art understood as tangible object towards relationships developing between subjects. It also proves relevant to situ ations where the material, visual layer acts only as a stimu lus for establishing the proper form of work using one’s own imagination. Manifesting the fundamental aspect of creative projects most recently undertaken by Bunkier Sztuki gives the opportunity to investigate relations they encourage in an art institution, to examine the usually unnoticeable work they imply and involve, and to study—again—the accumulating material evidence of pursuance and experiences shared by artists, audiences and the Gallery itself. Expressing meanings and contexts of dematerialisation using the metaphorical concept of endospore turns attention to new forms of artworks: ones that do not necessarily have to come into physical existence. Some of these last only as ideas: germinal yet of importance not lesser than that of their tangible realisation – perhaps even greater, since recep tion of such endospores depends on sensibility to physical or formal potentiality, and on attentiveness indispensable to penetrating the proposed narrative paths. Anna Lebensztejn Kinga Olesiejuk
ENDOSPORES HELD IN THE BUNKIER SZTUKI COLLECTION
Piotr Wysocki, „Untitled”, 2015, photo by Piotr Wysocki
works of art conceived as events, performance acts and actions last in the form of endospores which give insight into now vanished shapes of their ephemeral and time-barred materialisations
Zorka Wollny Untitled (a hearing trumpet: the collection) 2015 The text-, sound- and motion-based composition played during the opening of “Endospores” consisted largely in improvisations performed by partaking amateur actors. Its libretto, dealing with the problem of memory, assumed fragmentary, disintegrating forms. An audiovisual recording—evidence of ephemerality and effect of chance—acts as a trace of that deconstructive mechanism. Zorka (Zofia) Wollny (born 1980) Berlin-based performer, painter, author of films. Interested in cultural codes, rudimentary behaviours, conventional gestures as well as relation between anthropological observation and expressive possibilities. Her output includes a series of choreographic performances commissioned by museum institutions, and concerts (in collaboration with Anna Szwajgier).
Rafani Untitled (On invisible) 2015 The performance by Rafani, featuring slam poet Jan Paweł Kowalewicz (aka Roman Boryczko), dealt with the way communities and individuals function in society. The audiovisual traces on show are the only remnants of an event simultaneously staged in several locations. Rafani Prague-based group founded in 2000, currently formed by Zuzana Blochová, Jiří Franta, David Kořinek, Marek Meduna and Luděk Rathouský. Authors of performative acts and art films dealing with manipulation of political content as well as patterns of behaviour and perception. They usually appear in uniforms. Their actions mimic demonstrations or public speakings. 2006 saw them cease to discuss own activity in writing, and limit the documentative aspect only to visual means.
Little Warsaw Yellow House 2015 András Gálik and Bálint Havas invited a group of dozen people to collectively embark on an artistic research project focused on the entity of a historical psychiatric clinic in Budapest (called “Yellow House”), which sprouted with mysterious meanings as decades passed. This inquiry into the ways that emotions affect memory is represented here by material prepared by the artists based on notes, objects and documentation created by people who took part in the performance. Little Warsaw Budapest-based art group formed in 1996 by two Hungarian artists András Gálik (born 1970) and Bálint Havas (born 1971), inspired by their residency in Warsaw and since then preoccupied mainly with history as well as collective and individual consciousness. Their projects, equally artistic and social in nature, deconstruct national symbols and signs of communal remembrance.
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries untitled (Aneta. Monument to Kraków) 2015 Rampant images and information overload. The message, emer ging from a digital application—a kind of visual poetry combined with voice-over—induces a subjective, momentary experience, and affects above all the subconscious. Only a fraction of the content is perceived: the general impression and nature of the message which itself may spread through different digital carriers, such as web portals, video boards or television. Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (1999) Seoul-based duo formed in 1999 by Korean artist and translator Young-hae Chang and American poet Marc Voge. Their works—witty text-based animations with music, blending concrete poetry with experimental film, made in Adobe Flash—are considered net art classics.
Piotr Wysocki untitled 2015 Reminiscence of an actual scene—reliving and recreating a dramatic moment—was the essence of an artistic action performed in the autumn of 2015 with a group of Chechen refugees and young citizens of Warsaw’s district Praga. The video trace on show does not tell about the course of what happened; it only outlines the context and briefly reminds the situations that had led to the incident. Piotr Wysocki (born 1976) Warsaw-based creator of films and video installations. His projects, often realised in public spaces, result from meeting another human being and earning each other’s trust. Protagonists—people with exceptional life stories—encouraged to develop own self-expression while being given the opportunity of mutual observation, become co-authors of works.
the endospores act as stages in the evolutionary cycle of fluxional works that structurally vary in time and space, allowing them to abandon one form and naturally take on another
Mariusz Libel part of the Anti-semanticism series 2013 Unveiling of the mural—one in a three-part series adopting the strategy of concrete poetry—involved the audience in removing the top layer, which read “Our ancestors conquered nature – we have to overcome culture”. That was still only one stage of getting to the heart of the piece, since the encrypted verbal message had been broken into small units so that deciphering it required examining the cluster of letters and puzzling out concealed meanings by oneself as well as making up own interpretations. The animation on show illustrates the proper mechanism of the work: the actual establishment thereof begins only upon adopting a strictly conceptual approach. Mariusz Libel (born 1978) Member of the urban art movement. Co-founder of Twożywo, an art group appearing in urban surroundings and media through distinct and straightforward visual messages, active until 2011. His projects combine conceptual poetry, illustration, murals, posters and community engagement. He lives and works in Warsaw.
Jakub Woynarowski Outopos 2013 The virtual diagram, existing only in digital environment, has been designed by the author as an application consisting in a series of graphics dissecting the idea of utopia. Having entered the digital space, the user himself chooses his paths through the suggested problems. Not only do his decisions result with image sheet sequences different each time, they do affect as well the diagram layout encountered in the next instance. Jakub Woynarowski (born 1982) Interdisciplinary artist, designer, independent curator. Author of comic books, visual essays, films, and installations. Conspiracy theories serve him to construct fictional narratives and analyse revolutions in the modern history of Western culture. Projects integrating theory and practice of visual arts are another significant area of his activity. He lives and works in Kraków.
Wojciech Gilewicz paintings 2002– In 2012 the artist consigned several differently sized canvasses to the Gallery. The set, extended two years later, included strict instructions to repaint their surfaces every six months. What turned out to be the essence of the work was not an aggregate of artistic objects but a painting process repeated on a regular basis. The concept suggested a new perspective on the Collection: a shift in focus towards the immaterial. Wojciech Gilewicz (born 1974) Painter, photographer, author of installations and films. Investigates blurring of the lines between reality and its representation in art. His painting, disburdened of craft-related conventions through medium-wise transformation, manifests illusory and processual aspects. The artist lives and works in Warsaw and New York.
Wojciech Puś, “Cinema”, 2013, part of the installation, photo by Wojciech Puś
thanks to the endospores, ambience-sensitive pieces may adapt to spatial and environmental conditions, and so develop into different material forms
Wojciech Puś Cinema 2013 Like cinematography, the film installation by Wojciech Puś blended illusion with reality, and immediate experience with sensual tale unfolding in one’s imagination. The sensuous ambiance was produced by several media: film, soundtrack, and light. The artist provided for future presentations thereof by consenting to disregard the original interconnections and exhibit the elements in altered configurations – precisely that is taking place now with the form of a spatial composition consisting of neons. Wojciech Puś (born 1978) Creator of light installations, interactive objects, and motion pictures. Graduate of and lecturer at the Cinematography and Television Production Department of Łódź Film School. His works, making a specific use of light, colour and sound, aimed at placing viewers at the borders of reality and film, deal with the idea of cinematic and with phenomena observed in nature.
Justyna Gruszczyk breath 2013 The installation makes use of the volatile and subjectively perceived medium of smell, composed upon consulting employees about scents considered especially pleasant. The composition, although normally sprayed around the Gallery—in spots chosen by the artist, such as the vestibule, the hall, or the spiral staircase—appears here in its alternative form, intended for nonmonographic shows as well as exhibitions taking place outside the premises of Bunkier Sztuki. Justyna Gruszczyk (born 1982) Based in Dublin, explores the possibilities of employing smell in art. Striving for utmost discretion of artistic acts, she has almost completely given up visual productions. Her highly site-specific projects are presented both in galleries and in public spaces.
Urszula Tarasiewicz A ticket office with a view 2013 Recalling sixteenth-century “cosmic” landscapes, the photographic installation by Urszula Tarasiewicz—result of collaboration with Bunkier Sztuki employee Anna Mól—originally filled the walls of the Gallery’s vestibule and ticket office, transforming them into an illusionistic panorama. The artist has provided for exhibiting the work outside its intended site by envisaging an equal, alternative form: a large print complemented by documentation showing the piece along with its protagonist. Urszula Tarasiewicz (born 1975) Photographer, organiser of photographic events and exhibitions. Busied with photography-based interior design as well as photographic scenography for the theatre, motion pictures and television. Observed contrasts between people and their surroundings are her starting point for transforming spaces in a subtle and subjective way. She lives and works in Łódź and Oslo.
Mikołaj Długosz Kraków – aerial photo 2014 The unveiling at Bunkier Sztuki gave simultaneous rise to two forms of the work based on aerial photography: one was a photographic installation – floor covering with a partial panorama of Kraków’s Old Town and its surroundings; the other, an art book presenting the complete bird’s-eye view of the city. Although the large-scale photograph was to remain on the hall’s floor only for a certain time, it may return there thanks to reconstruction directions provided by the artist. The other object became a means for day-to-day presentation of the piece. Mikołaj Długosz (born 1975) Warsaw-based photographer. Author of artistic projects based on found— and often anonymous—material, where acquired photographic collections display unevident qualities having been subjected to editing and creative compilation.
as a tangible record of past works of art, be it documentation or artistic instructions, the endospores preserve memory of their former shapes as well as provide for succeeding realisations
Kornel Janczy Epicentre 2014 The interactive installation Epicentre was originally situated in the scenic Wojciech Bednarski Park in Kraków’s district Podgórze. Frequenters entering the range of motion sensors constituting the work triggered a hollow sound, growing stronger as one neared the centre. The proper piece always existed only for a brief moment, happening in a specific place and determined time, fading and recurring because of new strollers. The transmitter presented here, hidden in the middle of a little glade by design, remained out of the park-goers’ sight. Kornel Janczy (born 1984) Painter, multimedia artist. Fascinated with abstract structures meant to represent terrain as well as natural landforms meticulously documented by geo- and cartographers, finds inspiration in atlases. He lives and works in Limanowa.
Maciej Kurak now! 2013 A perfect, spotless white cube juxtaposed with a sculptural composition that imitated rolling up or unfolding of the space faced by viewers. While the original installation encompassed one entire floor of the Gallery, the basic form of the piece is in fact an artistic manual explaining the conceptual aspects of the work and allowing to recreate it either in Bunkier Sztuki or elsewhere. Maciej Kurak (born 1972) Sculptor, author of site-specific installations. His interventions in the interiors of galleries and art institutions as well as in the cityscape alter the way that reality—especially architecture, the spatial framework of human existence—is perceived. He lives and works in Poznań.
Roland Wirtz Apparition 2015 Inspired by a photograph showing the past interiors of the Gallery, Roland Wirtz decided to recreate the view from its windows—which have long been covered by now—in a multimedia form (in collaboration with Elektro Moon Vision group), with image transmitted live from cameras installed on the edge of the building’s roof. The artist has not provided for reproducing the installation; instead, he considers it existing once and never again. Still, it may be represented by documentative elements casting light on the concept and giving account of the artistic situation arranged in Bunkier Sztuki. Roland Wirtz (born 1959) Berlin-based photographer. He employs the specifically photographic ability to capture a fraction of time in order to document final and epoch-making situations, passing, and natural, unaffected transformations. Dealing with symbolical values of certain places as well as ways that identities thereof take shape, his works discreetly unveil contexts of events fundamental to such sites, meaningful historically or only from one’s peculiar point of view.
Jan Hoeft untitled 2015 Within Kraków’s Błonia—formerly a grassland, now a recreation space—the artist initiated a near-imperceptible situation: in the middle of the field he located a ten-metre aluminium sculpture resembling an overscaled bicycle rack. The red and white design of the scarf hung on its frame—and restored if need be—included a telephone number leading the caller to a remote performance. The anti-documentation on show is another element intentionally deceiving the viewer: Hoeft fictionalised the actual story and reception of the piece in order to weave his own, alternative tale.
Jan Hoeft (born 1981) Cologne-based multimedia artist. Creator of ephemeral and semi-visible works incorporated in public spaces, focused on obsessive concern about safety and absurd aims of rationally capturing small elements of reality. Conceptual photography, video and interventions are his means of analysing the modern global society.
Contextual events
Saturday, December 19, 2015, 2 pm
opening
The opening of “Endospores” gives the opportunity to participate in a performance by Zorka Wollny, commissioned for the Bunkier Sztuki Collection.
Saturday, January 9, 2016, noon
Examining endospores An exhibition tour guided by curators Anna Lebensztejn and Kinga Olesiejuk is a chance to gain insight into the endospores of artworks.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 6 pm
black cube. Łukasz Jastrubczak The last in the series of events entitled “black cube. Video art from the Bunkier Sztuki Collection” features the film “Need for Speed” by Łukasz Jastrubczak, followed by a discussion with the author himself.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 6 pm
Re-painting
The forthcoming stage of Wojciech Gilewicz’s painting process “Pictures 2002–” will take place within the “Endospores” exhibition. During the event, canvasses handed over to the Collection will be repainted according to the artist’s instructions.
the endospores contain materials not inherently belonging to the pieces but accumulated by virtue of experiences and activities related thereto
December 20, 2015– January 31, 2016
Mikołaj Długosz Wojciech Gilewicz Justyna Gruszczyk Jan Hoeft Kornel Janczy Maciej Kurak Mariusz Libel Little Warsaw Wojciech Puś Rafani Urszula Tarasiewicz Roland Wirtz Zorka Wollny Jakub Woynarowski Piotr Wysocki Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries