Przedmioty I Objects

2005
installation

Objects, XX1 Gallery, Warsaw, exhibition view (photo: K. Radziejewski)

 

The installation „Objects” consist of a dozen white boxes, placed in a white room. The boxes, illuminated with inner light, are quite intriguing by their very form, inviting to look inside. The spectator lookin through a small hole can see copperplate engravings depicting objects: a powder compact, contraception pills, nail scissors, a spool of thread, hair clips, a box of contact lenses, two halves of a walnut, dried leaf, chewing gum, calipers, a key and a graver.

We are living in a world of objects, and the majority of human energy is devoted to inventing new ones, and still so unconsciously rotated in our fingers. This vast world of small things is intriguing, precisely because it is invisible. All items shown in my engravings lying on my desk, are transparent-like–some of them forgotten, others in continuous
use, some by accident. Some are important to me, because they are personal (like the graver), others – just because they have an interesting shape or texture. All of them have become small discoveries, posing as workmanship challenges. Each object drawn by me, had to be carved on a metal plate in different ways to best depict its their true character. Realistically presented, modern items engraved on metal look unreal, suspended between the past and the present.

installation: series of 12 copper engraving, paper, 12 boxes (42,5x32cm)