Land scape
Mariusz Sołtysik
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
which has been enjoyed my colleagues and students for a year and a half.
Over the years you have showcased your works in several occasions, both in Poland and abroad, including shows in Germany, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, France, Sweden, Italy, Romania, India, Australia and USA: one of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
At the stage of idea creation, I don’ t think, I consider the viewer. When it comes to a sketch and during the developmental stage – yes, I do. Taking a viewer into consideration has got a great meaning in case of interactive works, installation or sitespecific works. You have to consider how to lead the viewer and where the work is done. In one of your questions you mentioned globalisation. The awareness of common behaviours allows us to suspect and plan the reactions reserved for our species in terms of perception. My language is a visual message, when it becomes universal through the use of media, tools and contexts of time and place, it becomes mine and the viewer’ s. Of course, only if the viewer wishes to appropriate it.
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Mariusz. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
I am working now on a rather big project, which deals with the topic of the condition of humanity. It uses small gestures in both virtual and real space. Except for planned works, I returned to doing interactive works. Political situation in Poland and in the world is becoming radicalised while at the same time we witness a state of indifference for the tragedy of the‘ other’. I have an impression that societies equipped with technological gadgets do not pay attention to content, common knowledge and agreements. There seems to be an overenjoyment of hyper-textual links, superficial descriptions of situations and popular slogans, as well as ever growing‘ likes’. For that reason, I am working on the second version of the work, where the viewer discovers normative acts such as constitution in the context of his or her present situation. This is a commentary on the situation, but also a possibility to show / read constitution acts which are known only from the names, not from the content.
I would like to thank you very much for your insightful and interesting questions. They appreciate the viewer’ s needs, which is of great importance for me and for the reception of my works.
My web: www. mariusz-soltysik. com
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