I have no good news – simulacra, inclusions, prototypes ∣ Nie mam dobrych wiadomości – symulakry, wtrącenia, prototypy

exhibition; transmedia project / 18th September – 29th October 2023 Wschodnia Gallery, Łódź, Poland // wystawa / projekt transmedialny / 18 września – 29 października 2023, Galeria Wschodnia w Łodzi /
the exhibition consisted of 9 different works made in various techniques as drawing, video, sculpture, photo collage, interactive sound object / wystawa składała się z 9. różnych prac wykonanych w różnych technikach: rysunek, wideo, rzeźba, kolaż fotograficzny, interaktywny obiekt dźwiękowy

Ever since Francisco Goya painted ‘The Shooting of the Madrid Insurgents’ (‘Los fusilamientos en la montaña del Príncipe Pío’), the artist has not had to pretend to live in a real and shared world. However, this does not mean that his imagination has any limit and is subject to any influence. The artist follows an artistic imperative by outlining the individual qualities that appear in his productions. Nor are there themes or plots that he cannot analyse, explore or create their alternative histories. As Dick Higgins has written: ”Art does not renew itself like medicine, in which each new discovery replaces what has gone before; rather, it changes according to the dialectic of innovation drawing new forces from predecessors, taking root in the non-artistic part of our culture, expanding and adding to the available repertoire of cultural experience. The rejects of one century become the treasures of the next”.
In the project “I don’t have good news – simulacra, inclusions, prototypes”, I analyze, comment and create alternative formal and substantive solutions for the world – in the spirit of hypertextual and transmedia narrative (all works had a common theme, but can be developed in separate versions) based on collected and available data, reminding us that our mind is our treasure…

/ Welcome to Earth! Witamy na Ziemi!
drawings, prints 100 × 100 cm
Looking at our planet and what we do with it allowed me to create a picture from general to detail. Our behaviors are also expressed through language and the metaphors we use. It turns out that there are surprisingly many military and hierarchical metaphors in our language…

The visualization of this approach was made easier for me by a map I found by Athelstan Spilhaus – which helps to visualize the planet using a map, but significantly different from those we know. Athelstan Spilhaus designed his map of the world’s oceans in 1942. Uniquely, this map shows all the oceans as one body of water. At its center is Antarctica. The oceans cover 71% of the planet’s surface, produce between 50% and 85% of the world’s oxygen, and are the main source of food for humanity. Since the 1950s, marine “dead zones” – with zero oxygen and no marine life – have quadrupled. Low oxygen zones have increased tenfold. This trend is driven by climate change (warmer waters contain less oxygen) and, in coastal zones, by runoff of fertilizers and sewage from the land.

In 1972 and 1973, the PIONEER 10 and PIONEER 11 unmanned spacecraft were accompanied by plaques with a pictographic illustration of the spacecraft’s origins – in case of interception by intelligent life in space. They aroused many emotions, starting with a gesture made by a man (raised hand), but not by a woman – which was con-sidered gender bias (Craig Owens). The form of an arrow – the flight trajectory of a ship – associated with an artifact of hunter-gatherer culture (Ernst Gombrich). The characters were also clearly associated with representatives of the white race, excluding others. The initiator of the project was Eric Burgess, the design was created by astronomer Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, and the drawings were made by Linda Salzman Sagan and Jon Lomberg.

After 50 years, I decided to propose a series of plates. It consists of graphic elements showing the most outstanding examples of life shaped by the communities inhabiting the planet. Compared to this tablet sent into space – in my opinion they more accurately describe our species, the direction of development and conditions on the planet in case any form of intelligent life wants to communicate with us.

The second drawing shows the spiral of hierarchical violence that characterizes most human civilizations. The spiral has been a symbol of life and renewal since ancient times. My spiral shows current civilization as an ever-renewing social structure based on domination and hierarchy rather than cooperation and coexistence. In relation to this board designed for other forms of life in space and sent with the PIONEER 10 and PIONEER 11 unmanned missions in 70’s – my drawing visualizes only the consequences…
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/welcome-to-earth/

/ “I have no good news”
is a series of 10 photo collages – made during a stay in the Atacama Desert, Taiwan, and those that went around the world on the Internet during the Russian attack on Ukraine (CC). This conflict and the scale of the crime reminded me how illusory our sense of security is and how great the scale of destruction is. The landscapes visible in my collages are visible through the raster. Public and intercity transport vehicles are often covered with such advertising banners made of plastic called “One One Vision” – consisting of perforations, i.e. raster. When I was returning from the Atacama Desert, the bus was covered with such a material, which made it difficult to see the landscape outside. Without a doubt, rasters distort the field and quality of vision, deforming the distances between what we see. Our perception is limited and affects our reception. Therefore, it was difficult to see the landscape outside because of this material. I then thought that it was similar to the way societies perceive problems and try to solve them… I printed a series of these photos on a light-impermeable ”blackout” fabric. This procedure was not accidental, because it is on Atacama that there is currently the largest repository of clothing woven mainly from plastic threads, apparently visible from space. Their biodegradation is virtually impossible…
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/i-have-no-good-news/

/ Figure
sculpture/
The work “Figure” (in English: figure, silhouette, but also number) is a METAPHOR that does not refer to a specific person. It is a representation of man (as a species) in a situation he himself created. We are dependent on the political system, the economic system, the social system, the religious system (fierce wars are fought over the label of god) and technology. This cultural “overlay”, which is a system of assigning an individual to action in a given social group – conditioned by the above dependencies – makes us prisoners of our own products and decisions, which affect not only us (people), but also Nature. “Figure” is a hostage not only of the above-mentioned dependencies, but also a reminder of the many people suffering as a result of ongoing armed conflicts and wars. The “figure” is made only of straight sections of metal in the shape of the so-called polygon (polygon) while maintaining anatomical compliance. Its structure refers to virtual reality (computer) and using this form to build other objects. From this polygon and its multiples, shapes of known things, people, etc. are created in the virtual world. That is why it exists in the material and virtual world.

As the exhibition was transmedia and hypertext, all works had a common theme, but could be developed in separate parts. Therefore, “Figure” refers to other objects and sculptures that are an openwork drawing in space, as well as a dialogue with architecture.
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/figure/

/ Czech Hedgehog; Dragon’s Teeth
Sculptural objects – which I used in this project – are a form of obstacles and military barriers that the authorities also use against citizens. So there is “Czech Hedgehog”, “Dragon’s Teeth” and “Tetrapod” (visible in the photo collage).
My objects are devoid of military functions, violent features and negative connotations. They are openwork, composed of lines, like a drawing in space. They correspond to architecture and geometric, simple forms.
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/czech-hedgehog-czeski-jez/
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/dragons-teeth-%e2%88%a3-zeby-smoka/

/ Avin means Love / Avin znaczy miłość
video /
This work was triggered by the news of the death of a Kurdish woman from Iraq who was hiding from border guards on the Polish-Belarusian border. Her name was Avin Ifran Zahir. As reported by the Grupa Granica [Border Group], as a result of so-called push-backs, the pregnant Kurdish woman spent three days in the forest on the Belarusian side and four on the Polish side. On the Polish side, her condition worsened. She moaned with pain and vomited in front of her children and husband. Unconscious, with hypothermia and feverish delirium, she was found by volunteers from the Border Group. She died in a hospital in Hajnówka.
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/avin-means-love/

/ Bang-puke homo-sapiens! ∣ Pif-paf homo-sapiens!
video /
It is a verbal and authorial narrative, a story about an individual trying to describe his place in society. It is also a story about society, the ways it functions, its products, the system, and globalization and about Anthropocene. The text is written in the 3rd person. There is no assigned and clear hero. It can be anyone who finds similarities in the reception of reality.
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/bang-puke-homo-sapiens/

/ Walking Democracy / Wychodzona demokracja
video /
“Walking Democracy”is a video showing the model of democracy combined with the documentary record of participation in collective protests in defence of it. The demonstrations were a reaction to violations of the constitution since 2015 to 2023 in Poland. I created a mock-up to visualize the process that accompanies a citizen. The “democracy” model is a model determined in accordance with the priorities of a given social group that wants equal rights regardless of beliefs, skin color or religion. This does not mean, however, that once “setup” it does not require care. Sometimes you “have to walk” for it to work. But then, what exactly is democracy? Perhaps, as Adam Przeworski (a Polish-American political scientist) writes: „Perusing innumerable definitions, one discovers that democracy has become an altar on which everyone has his or her favourite »ex voto«”
Przeworski, Adam (1999), ‘Minimalist Conception of Democracy: A Defense’
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/walking-democracy/

/ Paraffin / Parafina
interactive sound object /
sound essay / voice was generated online /
details:
https://mariusz-soltysik.com/works/paraffin/