”Wschodniotaur; East Taurus”
the exhibition ”Panopticum” in the frame of international Foto Festival 2021, Galeria Wschodnia, Łódź, 2021
East Taurus (name is word play with East Gallery) refers to the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur – a hybrid of a human and a bull. The minotaur was hidden in a maze under King Minos’ palace in Knossos, devouring the sacrifices made to him every nine years.
Being associated with the Wschodnia Gallery many times since the 90’s I imagined the gallery to be an enclave surrounded by a maze where “other beings” live. Rarely, “beings” from the outside came to the gallery, and the figures inside it, in turn, eluded unambiguous inspection. In trying to delineate these worlds, I created the character of an East Taurus watching and waiting – not so much for his victims – but researching his relationship with the OTHER (other-being).
Somewhat forgotten (like the place just below the Eastern Gallery), hidden, with classic features, East Taurus lives in times when man – violently, causing painful wounds to himself and other inhabitants of the planet – steps down from the pedestal of the ruler (the Anthropocene era). Homo sapiens, i.e. a thinking man, seems to be a relict like the Minotaur – as evidenced by both the climatic and political effects. Despite the advances in civilization and technology, the number of “creatures” devoured their “victims” – on different levels of society – predominate on the planet. It should be noted, however, that it is often the “victims” who agree to their fate by making (often democratically) easy choices and seemingly attractive. East Taurus ponders how his animality influences his life, and how in the case of homo sapiens? Isn’t that a good reason for reflection for the local East Taurus – an admirer of unrestrained thought and fine arts?
Medium: intermedia and interactive site-specific work.
Forms of expression: manipulated digital photography, 180 × 79 cm, C-print on Hahnemühle paper; sound: Party next door (my own mix); microcontroller; motion sensor.
Place: abandoned room uder the Wschodnia Gallery in Łódź, Poland
”PANOPTICUM”
Artists: Mariusz Sołtysik, Wiktor Polak, Aleksandra Chciuk, Adam Klimczak / curator: Mariusz Sołtysik
The exhibition Panopticon is a collection of individual interpretations of the medium of photography, which in this case is only a point of reference to the current activities of the artists and the residential spaces they have developed in the premises at 29 Wschodnia Street The installations and objects are intended as a discreet dialogue between the artists and the areas of the exhibition sites they have chosen. The natural expression of the interiors and the equipment accumulated in them becomes part of the game with art and the artists’ proposals.
