Land scape
Mariusz Sołtysik
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
to creating a balance between the environment and the work . I draw on context and I give sense to both sides . This is a construction which allows for creating the whole .
Your tunnels , terminals , changing rooms , waiting rooms remind the notion of non-lieu elaborated by French anthropologist Marc Augé and establishe a channel of communication between the conscious level and the subconscious sphere : artists are always interested in probing to see what is beneath the surface : maybe one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature , especially of our inner Nature ... what ' s your view about this ? In particular , do you think that your works could induce a process of self-reflection in the viewers ?
I know the works of Marc Augé , they are very important to me . They were published in Polish as late as in 2010 . His work was important for me scientifically , and it also confirmed my intuitions . As a child , I used be ill very often . That in turn meant that I often visited waiting rooms , temporary places , doctor ’ s offices , etc . Finding or discovering something captivating , interesting , imagining someone ’ s history , or a pleasure of observation , in places were I spent so much time , is similar to loneliness , which you want to share with someone . It has got an intimate character , often unconscious , but you may feel well there . There is another important thing . I grew up in a non-place similar to others like that . It was a high-rise block of flats surrounded with other similar blocks , they all had a network of internal corridors . My places have some visual features of the places already known to me , but a relation to a place , proportions , scale or selected medium differ . I remember at the opening of one of the exhibitions , just before its closing time , from the darkness , I heard the voices of some viewers asking to keep it open for a bit . This was an important experience for me . It convinced me that an induction of self-reflection is possible when as an artist I am authentic on all levels . There were other incidents such as the project of a swimming-pool in closeddown power station in Melbourne , when the viewers instinctively felt the energy of the huge interior , but the water and its reflection changed the perception .
We like the way you structured invaders balloons : it leaves space for the spectators to replay the idas you explore in their own intimate lives , letting them become emotionally involved in what you are attempting to communicate . As Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated , " the artist ’ s role differs depending on which part of the world you ’ re in . It depends on the political system you ’ re living under ". Do you think that the role of the artist has changed these days with the new global communications and the new sensibility created by new media ?
The work entitled ‘ Invaders balloons ’ has got various levels of reception , but yet again the most important is context . While thinking about different parts of the world , we tend to think about those places in terms of images known from television ,