Muzea przydatne społecznie: dla dzieci i dorosłych

Author(s): Aleksandra Janus / Language(s): Polish Issue: 19/2017

Przegląd i omówienie wybranych działań muzealnych adresowanych do dzieci, zarówno w Polsce, jak i na świecie. Autorka zestawia zrealizowane w ostatnich latach w Polsce i cieszące się popularnością wystawy dla dzieci z działaniami poza- i okołowystawienniczymi oraz z aktywnością instytucji adresowanych do dzieci na świecie. Omawiane przykłady sytuuje w kontekście współczesnej refleksji muzeologicznej, a zwłaszcza dyskusji na temat etycznych zobowiązań i społecznej odpowiedzialności muzeum oraz powiązanego z nimi prawa odbiorców – niezależnie od ich wieku i pochodzenia – do włączenia się w proces współtworzenia instytucji.

Art as an Agent of Modernisation. Władysław Strzemiński's Double Politics of Social Change, the Museum, and Artistic Culture

Author(s): Tomasz Załuski / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The avant-garde has been often considered as an attempt to integrate art with the praxis of everyday life and as an enterprise of designing the social change and creating visions of the new man, new culture and new society. This has led to interpreting the avant-garde as a radical but also – utopian artistic and cultural movement. Less often, even nowadays, the avant-garde is described and defined regarding the necessity and capability of creating new circumstances for radical artistic and socio-political ideas to get culturally enrooted, socially legitimised, and politically implemented. To create these appropriate circumstances, the avant-garde had to be able to function and perform efficiently within the real conditions of a particular time and place. It is here that the so-called “utopism” of the avant-garde got replaced by or at least supplemented with its operativity, good judgement and effectivity, enterprising spirit and resourcefulness – that is with its ability, sometimes highly developed, to self-organise and self-institutionalise in the public sphere. The article focuses on the artistic and organisational practices of Polish constructivist artist Władysław Strzemiński, especially on his expanded idea of art as an agent of cultural and social modernisation. The author shows how in Strzemiński's case the modernisation imperative translated into what can be called a “double politics”. Strzemiński's successful attempt at creating the International Collection of Modern Art, which later became the basis of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź as a museum of the avant-garde, is briefly situated in this context. The point is to show what role the collection, deposited in a municipal museum in Łódź and made accessible to the general public, was to play in the artist's overall modernisation politics. In the second part of the article, the author reflects on the possibility of repurposing and updating the idea of the “Museum of Artistic Culture” as an institution capable of providing a relevant and responsible answer to the avant-garde's ethos and heritage of modernisation. It is done concerning the project entitled The Effectivity of Art, organised by himself on the invitation from the Muzeum Sztuki in the years 2012-2014. It is one of the projects through which the institution has been trying to work with and re-work this modernisation heritage of the avant-garde in the sphere of contemporary artistic and activist practices.

Institutional Experiments: Progressive Responses to the Dissolution of Autonomous Art

Author(s): Kuba Szreder / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The paper discusses radicalised forms of new institutionalism in the field of contemporary visual arts, which has emerged since 2010. The text focuses on case studies of European institutions associated in the international coalition L’internationale, to analyse how those institutions bend conventions of the modernist institution of art. The article argues that the institutions analysed move beyond the conceptual divisions embedded in modernism, such as the distinction between high art and popular creativity, or between use value and aesthetical value of art. In this way, radical institutions respond to the transformation of both function and understanding of contemporary art, prompted by economic and social incorporation of artistic activities. The text discusses progressive institutional models of museums 3.0, the neoliberal museums of 1% and the nationalist museums, as contradictory responses to the underlying, structural tension, caused by the dissolution of the modernist frame of art.

Symfonia z resztek

Author(s): Marta Madejska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2018

A Symphony from Remnants

Author(s): Marta Madejska / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

Maszyna do pracy z wyobraźnią

Author(s): Joanna Sokołowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2018

Tekst jest rodzajem kuratorskiego przewodnika po wystawie Wszyscy ludzie bądą siostrami w Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi. Wystawa była propozycją genealogii i manifestacją siostrzeństwa w sztuce powstającej w okresie od końca lat 60. XX wieku po dziś. Przewodniczką w jej tworzeniu była sztuka rezonująca z feministycznymi ujęciami pracy, produkcji i reprodukcji. Siostrzeństwo zaczyna się od wyzysku kobiet w patriarchacie, ale stawia pytania o przyszłe relacje społeczne i gospodarcze w perspektywie ekologiczno-światowej.

Kolektyw kuratorski: hakowanie muzeum – otwieranie akademii

Author(s): Roma Sendyka,Iwona Kurz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2018

An interview with Roma Sendyka (Jagiellonian University) about the activities of the Curatorial Collective.

Aesthetic Participation as a Realisation of Social and Cultural Poiesis

Author(s): Iwona Lorenc / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

In this essay, I will attempt to present a model of aesthetics based on a distinctive way of understanding artistic participation, relying on examples from the conceptions of Michel Maffesoli and Nicolas Bourriaud. My characterization does not claim to provide a complete description of the phenomenon in art and in contemporary theoretical approaches. Instead,I will attempt to show that the model, despite its narrow formula, provides a good opportunity to showcase certain shifts that have occurred in contemporary aesthetics due to late modern (especially characteristic of the post-industrial age) processes of de-autonomization. These shifts can be traced in the space of tension between two categories: distance and engagement. I will also show that the shifts open a new way of defining the subject of artistic creation. The subject no longer has an individual or intentional nature, nor yields to a substantialising characterization. The creative force is the self-articulating social life converged in human practices (and, among others – in artistic practices). In a way, Bourriaud and Maffesoli reuse a well-known philosophical template: one in which the poietic power of creation is alternately bestowed upon Nietzsche’s life, Heidegger’s or late Merleau-Ponty’s Being, Dufrenne’s self-creating Nature etc. Bourriaud and Maffesoli, in their conceptions of artistic and aesthetic participation, fall within – and this is my overall conclusion which serves as the guideline for the present analysis – in such a generally understood poietic model.

Metaphysics in the shackles of asteiology

Author(s): Kazimierz Piotrowski / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

Will the dog crush heron’s leg, or will the heron pluck out the dog’s eyes? – an array of possible decodings of this animalistic drama appears in the logical-ontological space of the image. However, an image does not participate in any of the worlds it implies. This visual asteism shows that the ontological participation is different from the metaphysical. Thus, the problem of metaphysical participation will not be solved by the logical-rhetorical trope of diaporesis that Abraham Hondius used to achieve almost an isocephaly in this struggle between what is high--flying and what is mundane or – perhaps – between metaphysics and asteiology. We finda paradigmatic display of this struggle in the Parmenides, where the One was wittily juxtaposed with idea of ... dust. Moreover, in the case of analogy of being, the diaporia is also an aporia, since analogia entis as analogy as such must be ultimately understood analogically (sic!), and thus asteiologically. And this is not a mistake of ignotum per ignotum but a good solution to our problem (an euporia), which is unlikely to satisfy ontology seeking an evidentialist truth. Sucha conclusion would be potentially important for asteiology as the ingenium theory, which traces its subreptions also to metaphysics.

Art, participation and aesthetics

Author(s): Grzegorz Sztabiński / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The authors of the principal concepts that combine art with participatory issues use the term "aesthetics" to refer to their theories. The aim of the article is to examine the aspects in which these authors refer to the traditional issues of aesthetics and how they modify them. The discussion focuses on three concepts. In Nicolas Bourriaud's relational aesthetics, the notion of "form", modified in such a way as to include human relations appearing in connection with artistic situations, plays an important role. This way viewers and their behavior become part of the works of art. In the article this issue is confronted with the theory of the Umberto Eco's concept of "open work". Selected works by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Felix Gonazalez-Torres and Liam Gillick are also discussed as examples of relational art. Grant Kester's dialogical aesthetics is presented as an example of the link between art and participation, in which experience is brought to the foreground and ethical values dominate. Claire Bishop, on the other hand, believes that participatory art makes far-reaching changes in the understanding of aesthetics necessary. Referring to Jacques Rancière's philosophical concept, she argues that the inconclusive nature of aesthetic experience entails the necessity of questioning the way in which the world is organized. Therefore, the “sensible sharing” that takes place in participatory art is at the same time a political judgment. Moreover, the English author places emphasis not the harmonization of interpersonal relations (presumed in relational aesthetics), but the antagonism that allows us to constantly redefine and make social problems the subject of debates. The article concludes with a question whether relational, dialogical and participatory aesthetics opens up a new field for aesthetic reflection built over artistic phenomena.

Participation in the Present and the Spacing of Time: On Kawara, Nancy, Levinas

Author(s): Ewa Bobrowska / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

This paper focuses on the close examination of the notions of presence, participation, and time in the conceptual art of On Kawara, in which the rhetorical figure of art works through the spacing of time. In this way, this conceptual art becomes a symbol of absolute creation — the creation of time and the participation in the eternal present, according to Jean-Luc Nancy’s essay: The Technique of the Present: On On Kawara. Moreover, On Kawara’s paintings explore the theme of being and are structured around Martin Heidegger’s concept of “throwness” in the world, as they convey the sense of being carried along by the events and the impetus of the world. The materiality of the loneliness of the self, which is crucial for this artistic project, is considered with reference to Emmanuel Levinas’s thought and Samuel Beckett’s …but the clouds…

The Art of Participating in Silence

Author(s): Anna Szyjkowska-Piotrowska / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The purpose of the essay is to use associations related to silence in order to ascertain whether “participation/participation in silence” is in fact an oxymoron. First, the reflection focuses on the possible meanings of silence. The author proposes treating silence as a performative (non)act of speech. She then uses the criteria developed by J.L. Austin to demonstrate the performative and abstract (and therefore not narrative or descriptive) nature of silence. Secondly, the expression “participation in silence” is considered in the light of Aristotle's views on the individual-community axis. Finally, earlier reflections are used to identify the links betweensilence and art. John Cage's 4'33 is a selected example, though not the only one. It turns out that participation in silence is not an oxymoron.

From Artist Gone Underground to Occupational Realism. Remarks on Artistic Strategies Based on Invisibility

Author(s): Łukasz Białkowski / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The article discusses the problem of invisibility in the context of visual arts. An outline of six types of artistic activities in which invisibility or the artist’s disappearance plays a pivotal role is followed by a presentation of artistic practices called a strategy of mimicry. The latter consists in enacting by artists such jobs as a waitress, a cleaner or a sales representative and regarding these occupations as artistic activities. The tendencies are discussed based on Stephen Wright’s conception of ‘escapology’ and Julia Bryan Wilson’ ‘occupational realism’. The article raises questions concerning ethical repercussion of these activities and the fluid status of their identity, which, according to the author, paradoxically leads to evoking the Romantic figure of the artist.

The Aesthetic and Material Implications of Ecoventions’ Ongoing Participatory Demands

Author(s): Mateusz Salwa,Sue Spaid / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

In this paper, we assume that participatory art is an artwork, produced either collectively or by one artist, that invites participants to alter either its appearance, structure, and/or function, though not its purpose. This notion of audience participation is particular useful in discussing ecoventions (Sue Spaid’s term). An ecovention is an “artist-initiated practical action with ecological intent” and its purpose concerns whatever issues the collective who originally implemented it aimed to address. Generally speaking, an ecovention’s purpose concerns maximizing ecosystem functioning. We contend that such projects and various practices implied by them may result in an aesthetic experience of the environment based on the audience’s feeling of participation in the ecosystem and. It is partly a consequence of the fact that ecoventions are artistic projects. We claim that ecoventions as participatory artworks are important because they expand the field of art by including environmental issues in it, offering a new model of audience participation and) they may effectively change for the better the ecological conditions of a particular place.

Contemporary Artistic Transformation of Nature in the Context of the Politics of Nature – the Question of Participation

Author(s): Maja Piotrowska / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The text compares the concept of participation suggested by Bruno Latour in his Politics of Nature with the 2017 views of Nicolas Bourriaud on the role of art and artist in the dynamically changing world of the Anthropocene. Validating in the context of the goal – building a democratic common world – the role of atomized, grass-root, cognitively eclectic political activity, Latour tries to deactivate the fundamental divisions of the Western ontological tradition (including Nature/Culture and society, object/subject, Science/sciences) as paralyzing the individual’s ability to truly engage in the life of a community. He also points to the special role of art, which in the modern Western tradition did not have the ambition of concealing the constructional character of the shared visions of reality. These references are contrasted with the more philosophically traditional attitude of Bourriaud, who defends autonomous art as a value anda sphere that in intimate reception offers a possibility of a particularly accurate representation and at the same time a particularly accurate conceptual simulation of a selected segment of current reality. At the same time, Bourriaud demonstrates a more helpless and pessimistic attitude when compared to Latour’s concept of participation, remaining in a world largely created by someone / something else.

Interactive Art in the Culture of Participation

Author(s): Sidey Myoo / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

This paper highlights the concept of participation from two perspectives, that is cultural engagement, which shall serve as an initial and conceptual background, and the proper analysis drawing on the phenomenon of participation in the interactive art which has emerged from the New Media Art. The former aspect needs attention because of the still increasing importance of interactive technology, predominantly for the purposes of the Web users and their Web mediated participation practices. However, the Author would like to ponder over the importance of participation in the era of electronic media which is seen as a meaningful feature of the mechanisms of modern culture.The latter aspect of the analysis refers to the issue of reception of interactive art. This paper aims to reflect on how this area of communication between the artist and the viewer is essentially different in contrast with the so called proscenic art, because it involves a new and very interesting phenomenon of interference of the recipient in the work of art and, consequently, allowing them to become a part of it.Some modern artworks shall serve as examples for my studies, e.g. an interactive 3D installation and Post-Internet Art works.

Participatory art, new media and convergence art based on the example of La Fura Dels Baus Group

Author(s): Aneta Pawłowska,Anna Wendorff / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The article attempts to present various categories of activities related to participatory art that we can find in the extensive artistic output of the Catalan group named La Fura dels Baus. Ever since it was established in 1979, the group has been presenting a wide variety of forms: open-air events, dramatic plays, operas, and performances. It uses typically theatrical techniques, emphasizing especially quasi-religious experiences and experiments originating from mythical prehistory of the stage art and newer group techniques (happening, techniques developed by groups of the contestation period). The article discusses such shows as: Accions (1983), Suz/O/Suz (1985), Noun (1990), Manes and MTM (both 1996), as well as XXX (2001). Special attention is paid to acquisition and adaptation of Artaud’s concept of “Theatre of Cruelty” in relation to the group’s activities, which at the same timeare analysed from the perspective of audience participation in performances forced by artistic means.

Tadeusz Kantor – Engagement – Multiplication – Participation

Author(s): Dominika Łarionow / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The article discusses the Multipart project prepared by Tadeusz Kantor for the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw (1970 and 1971). The name's neologism arose from the combination of words: multiplication and participation. The author's intention was formulated in the manifesto accompanying the whole event. For Kantor, it was important to question the notion of a work of art against growing consumerism. The artist was the author of a project of 40 canvases, which were used for umbrellas. The performers of the whole were students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. The works were sold at the vernissage to start the second part of the Multipart. The spectators' participation was secured with a carefully written contract and assumed that the final shape of the work would be created through and through the recipient's creativity.From today's historical perspective, thanks to the works of Claire Bishop, it is quite easy to see the ideas of the artist of Polish convergence with the ideas of the Situationalist International. Kantor, with all the fascination with the possibility of active involvement of the viewer in the creation of the work, did not associate his actions with politics or any aspect of politics. This fact clearly separates his way of thinking about the function of art in the modern world from the leftist movement of situationists.

Idealistic Philosophy of Participation and Contemporary Art. Selected Examples of Polish Art at the turn of the Twenty First Century

Author(s): Rafał Solewski / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The article begins with elements of the idealistic philosophy of participation. The introduction includes both Plato’s thought regarding the possibility of participating in the world of ideas and the concepts of being (including the Absolute Being), acting and existence of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Finally, the notion of religious faith in participating in God’s truth and love is discussed. The examples of works by Janusz Orbitowski, Grzegorz Sztabiński, Mirosław Bałka, Sebastian Wywiórski and Zbigniew Libera are described then as contemporary artistic attempts to participate in the metaphysical reality. The participation not only occurs thanks to the very metaphysical nature of art, but it is also the content and theme of works. Artists address the issues of being, essence, act, ideal pattern, the idea of writing, eternity, love relationship as participation in the idea of the Good. The poetic use of symbols and paradoxes also serves to relate to metaphysics. It is precisely poetics that is ultimately indicated as a way of participating in the metaphysical reality clearly present in contemporary visual arts.

For/with. Together

Author(s): Wiesław Karolak / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The article presents the origins of my concept of workshops and educational-artistic projects aimed at a wide range of public, as the co-participants of artistic creation processes. It depicts projects related to spontaneity triggering and imagination activation of workshops participants. In the further part of the article there are presented instances of activities focused on dreams fulfillment in artistic projects. Issues of getting to know one another better and of greater mutual understanding through creative interaction occurring in artistic activities are significant for the discussion.The subject of activities conducted for over forty years is divided into five groups: spontaneity triggering, imagination activation, dreams fulfillment, creative interactions, and communality. All the presented projects display creations delivering symbolic products of non-utilitarian function. They direct our attention to self-confidence, optimism and achieving emotional well-being.