PALACE OF UNREST 20.06.2022
Art intervention by Dagmara Wyskiel at Villa Decius
PALACE OF UNREST
Art intervention by Dagmara Wyskiel
Curator: Bogdan Achimescu
The opening of the exhibition: 30 June (Thursday) 6:00 p.m. at Villa Decius
Palace of unrest, an art intervention created by Dagmara Wyskiel, is an invitation to reinterpret the space of the historic Villa Decius and its immediate surroundings. The result of her artistic work is a site-specific exhibition. The project is centred around the historic heritage of the 16th-century Villa Decius palace and park complex. Referring to the contemporary and historical space which recalls the history of famous noble families who owned the Villa throughout the centuries, Dagmara Wyskiel constructs and presents wider historical, cultural and environmental contexts of the heritage of this place. The main goal of the project is to bring together the local community based on the Villa Decius’s tradition by shaping openness to contemporary art, as well as strengthening the presence of history in social life.
The result of Dagmara Wyskiel’s artistic interpretation is a cycle of works placed in various spaces of the historic Villa Decius, which allude to the existing collection (for example, by maintaining the original sizes of exhibits) and replace its elements. They are located in the same spots, but made of different, unconventional and surprising materials: fully or semi-transparent, ephemeral and disposable plastics, which introduce a completely different aesthetics. With her conscious choice of material, the artist emphasises the contrast between works of historic value, which were created to last and were made from high-quality materials, and contemporary, nondurable production methods as well as the surrounding world and its dominant values. The exhibition showcases cheap synthetic materials rarely used for this purpose, which enter into dialogue with such materials as burgundy velvet fabric used to decorate interiors.
In her works, the author utilises such items as hand-drawn technical drawings saved from destruction at an abandoned and closed mine in Chile. Their use in installations refers to industrial heritage: reshaped by subsequent transformations on the one hand, and on the other – gaining an ever more valuable role both in art and in social consciousness.
Two spherical objects have been used in the exhibition and during the accompanying activities: balls of different sizes placed inside and outside the building in such a way that they correspond visually with each other. A sphere is a concept open to countless interpretations, and the function of these objects is to evoke a wide range of associations on different perception levels: from play, movement, kinetic energy to power, focus, and hierarchy.
The art intervention created by Dagmara Wyskiel is designed to lend itself to many different interpretations. First, it’s an invitation to explore, a call for each viewer to find their own perspective in the exhibition space. The thought-provoking plastic installations encourage the viewers and participants to reflect on the issues of environmental protection, the degradation of the planet and its material resources, and makes them decide which is more valuable: a temporary, fleeting reality or durable and timeless forms.
The set-up of the exhibition invites a multi-faceted investigation of the role of art. Based on the historic potential of Villa Decius, the event aims at developing cultural and social skills, creates a need for self-reflection and a deeper understanding of heritage, and encourages viewers to engage in the dialogue between tradition and modernity. The author’s idea is to inspire new ways of thinking about heritage, and her works actively involve the audience in the intervention. That’s why Palace of unrest is not a ready-made product, but rather an exercise whose main objective is to work out new ways of establishing links between heritage and society.
The audience is placed in an unusual and provoking situation which requires an effort in order to interpret both the works and the context they are referencing. The innovative approach to cultural heritage and diverse creative methods encourage the participants, mainly the local community and residents of Krakow, to develop their individual interests and to take further actions.
The exhibition will be on display at the Villa Decius from 30 June to 7 August 2022
from Monday to Friday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sundays: 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
free entrance
Art intervention by Dagmara Wyskiel
Curator: Bogdan Achimescu
The opening of the exhibition: 30 June (Thursday) 6:00 p.m. at Villa Decius
Palace of unrest, an art intervention created by Dagmara Wyskiel, is an invitation to reinterpret the space of the historic Villa Decius and its immediate surroundings. The result of her artistic work is a site-specific exhibition. The project is centred around the historic heritage of the 16th-century Villa Decius palace and park complex. Referring to the contemporary and historical space which recalls the history of famous noble families who owned the Villa throughout the centuries, Dagmara Wyskiel constructs and presents wider historical, cultural and environmental contexts of the heritage of this place. The main goal of the project is to bring together the local community based on the Villa Decius’s tradition by shaping openness to contemporary art, as well as strengthening the presence of history in social life.
The result of Dagmara Wyskiel’s artistic interpretation is a cycle of works placed in various spaces of the historic Villa Decius, which allude to the existing collection (for example, by maintaining the original sizes of exhibits) and replace its elements. They are located in the same spots, but made of different, unconventional and surprising materials: fully or semi-transparent, ephemeral and disposable plastics, which introduce a completely different aesthetics. With her conscious choice of material, the artist emphasises the contrast between works of historic value, which were created to last and were made from high-quality materials, and contemporary, nondurable production methods as well as the surrounding world and its dominant values. The exhibition showcases cheap synthetic materials rarely used for this purpose, which enter into dialogue with such materials as burgundy velvet fabric used to decorate interiors.
In her works, the author utilises such items as hand-drawn technical drawings saved from destruction at an abandoned and closed mine in Chile. Their use in installations refers to industrial heritage: reshaped by subsequent transformations on the one hand, and on the other – gaining an ever more valuable role both in art and in social consciousness.
Two spherical objects have been used in the exhibition and during the accompanying activities: balls of different sizes placed inside and outside the building in such a way that they correspond visually with each other. A sphere is a concept open to countless interpretations, and the function of these objects is to evoke a wide range of associations on different perception levels: from play, movement, kinetic energy to power, focus, and hierarchy.
The art intervention created by Dagmara Wyskiel is designed to lend itself to many different interpretations. First, it’s an invitation to explore, a call for each viewer to find their own perspective in the exhibition space. The thought-provoking plastic installations encourage the viewers and participants to reflect on the issues of environmental protection, the degradation of the planet and its material resources, and makes them decide which is more valuable: a temporary, fleeting reality or durable and timeless forms.
The set-up of the exhibition invites a multi-faceted investigation of the role of art. Based on the historic potential of Villa Decius, the event aims at developing cultural and social skills, creates a need for self-reflection and a deeper understanding of heritage, and encourages viewers to engage in the dialogue between tradition and modernity. The author’s idea is to inspire new ways of thinking about heritage, and her works actively involve the audience in the intervention. That’s why Palace of unrest is not a ready-made product, but rather an exercise whose main objective is to work out new ways of establishing links between heritage and society.
The audience is placed in an unusual and provoking situation which requires an effort in order to interpret both the works and the context they are referencing. The innovative approach to cultural heritage and diverse creative methods encourage the participants, mainly the local community and residents of Krakow, to develop their individual interests and to take further actions.
The exhibition will be on display at the Villa Decius from 30 June to 7 August 2022
from Monday to Friday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sundays: 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
free entrance
Dagmara Wyskiel - a graduate of the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts (ASP), visual artist, curator, cultural activist and organiser of many events, lives in Antofagasta in northern Chile. She is the founder of the Colectivo Se Vende non-profit organisation and the Latin American Art Institute (ISLA), as well as the director of the International Contemporary Art Festival (SACO). She is the author and creator of performance art using large-format objects in selected spaces, such as the Meteorite Valley in the Atacama desert, the ALMA astronomical observatory, the Bitter Lagoon in the Magallanes region and the Chilean Antarctic, the old Jewish Quarter in Krakow, the British sea coast and the Valparaíso port. She staged art interventions in the Argentinian Andes; in the public spaces of Manizales, Medellín and Bogotá, Colombia; in London and Hastings, England; in Antofagasta, Coliumo and Castro, Chile; in the Great House of the People and on Plaza Murillo in La Paz. Her works were exhibited in the National Museum in Bolivia and in the Contemporary Art Space in Montevideo, as well as in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and Argentina. She won the grand prize at the XVII Asian Biennial in Bangladesh with her Mixed Video Game (2016).
Bogdan Achimescu - PhD, Associate Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts; works in drawing, photography, installation, as well as graphic design and computer graphics, and painting; creates installations, video projections and environmental art. As part of numerous scholarships and art residencies combined with artistic projects, he lived in Germany (1994, 1999), USA (1995–96), Switzerland (1995–96), Ireland (1998, 2001–2002), France (1999), Mongolia (2004) and Taiwan (2004). He represented Romania during the 2001 Venice Biennale, where his computer projection was displayed in the Romanian Pavilion. He taught classes at art academies in Poland (ASP in Krakow), Romania (ASW in Cluj), the United States (i.a., annual contracts with the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; the University of Arizona w Tucson and gave lectures at the Universities of Wisconsin, Madison and Utah). He held solo exhibitions in Europe, Asia and America. In 1993, he won the Grand Prix at the Biella Print Triennale. Many of his works are displayed in Poland and worldwide (MOMA, Uffizi).
Bogdan Achimescu - PhD, Associate Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts; works in drawing, photography, installation, as well as graphic design and computer graphics, and painting; creates installations, video projections and environmental art. As part of numerous scholarships and art residencies combined with artistic projects, he lived in Germany (1994, 1999), USA (1995–96), Switzerland (1995–96), Ireland (1998, 2001–2002), France (1999), Mongolia (2004) and Taiwan (2004). He represented Romania during the 2001 Venice Biennale, where his computer projection was displayed in the Romanian Pavilion. He taught classes at art academies in Poland (ASP in Krakow), Romania (ASW in Cluj), the United States (i.a., annual contracts with the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; the University of Arizona w Tucson and gave lectures at the Universities of Wisconsin, Madison and Utah). He held solo exhibitions in Europe, Asia and America. In 1993, he won the Grand Prix at the Biella Print Triennale. Many of his works are displayed in Poland and worldwide (MOMA, Uffizi).