Niechlujna wirtuozeria Stefana Themersona
The Sloppy Virtuosity of Stefan Themerson

Author(s): Karolina Kulpa
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Polish Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: sloppiness; avant-garde; Franciszka Themerson; sloppiness; Stefan Themerson; weak avant-garde
Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the strategy of sloppiness, which was first formulated in Stefan Themerson’s theoretical text "The Urge to Create Visions" (1937). It is considered an artistic trick, a means of expression and a particular kind of creative inaction. Sloppiness is juxtaposed with such categories as Breton’s perturbation, Witold Lutosławski’s ‘controlled aleatorism’, Karol Hiller’s ‘revolted matter’, Italian spazzatura, or Boris Groys’ ‘weak avant-garde’, among others. The author shows that the aesthetic sloppiness postulated by the Themerson is an original concept of the Polish artists (although related to similar tendencies of avant-garde movements), moreover, it is realised in their film, painting and prose works.

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