LandE scape
Karol Kochanowski
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
to the viewer at some level . The imagined nature of my works comes from desire for new solutions and searching for unseen . At the same time , running away from images of daily routines for the sake of digging for unknown , somehow , helps me to deal with depression and anxiety . The state of my mental health brought a need to work on the subject of relationship between creativity and mental disorders . My BA Fine Art dissertation titled “ Insanity – different way of thinking or just madness ” was a starting point of continuing research on creative nature of mental disorders .
Your practice sums up a contemplation on personal feelings surrounding being unable to exist in the absurdity that marks out the environment and clearly reflect your engagement in socio political issues : but while artists from the contemporary scene , as Ai WeiWei or more recently Jennifer Linton , use to express open socio-political criticism in their works , you seem more interested to hint the direction , inviting the viewers to a process of self-reflection that may lead to subvert a variety of usual , almost stereotyped cultural categories . Do you consider that your works could be considered political in a certain sense or did you seek to maintain a more neutral approach ? And in particular , what could be in your opinion the role that an artist could play in the contemporary society ?
Rather the form in which mass media serve us everyday filtered information than current political situation of the World influences my work . Being aware of doubtful character of political / social views we receive on daily bases , it triggered whole chain of thoughts , which led me to some drastic conclusions and brought more questions about authenticity of information served by mass media and the reasons behind it . I ’ ve focused on these subjects while working on my 2014 solo exhibition “# SELFIE _ SHOW- OFF ” at People History Museum in Manchester . We hear so many opinions on one subject , different mass media provide us various pictures of the reality , and we can ’ t be sure who ’ s right and who ’ s a liar . I can ’ t see any other solution for myself as an artist than being a neutral observer . In my opinion it doesn ’ t matter what decision we will make , which government we support , which party to vote on , there are always pros and cons of any choice . It doesn ’ t mean my position is the only or the right one . My view is , that any choice , either bad or good lead to something , just like in my art practice , it brings change to better or failure , but overall , we as a human kind make very slow progress . I believe that my role as an artist is to bring general awareness of questionable nature of surrounding us world .
Your practice could be considered a reaction to mass media that shape our societies , where the notion of truth grows more and