MEDIA ART and CRITICAL EXPERIMENTS of the POLISH SITE, 2004-2009 Aleksandra Kaminska
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MEDIATING POLES: MEDIA ART AND CRITICAL EXPERIMENTS OF THE POLISH SITE, 2004-2009 Aleksandra Kaminska A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO September 2012 © Aleksandra Kaminska, 2012 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-92800-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-92800-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT This dissertation is a case study of the Polish media artist in the context of post-socialist and European re-imaginations of the Polish site during the years 2004-2009. Though it has been suggested that we have entered a post-national era defined by hyper-mobility and global interconnectivity, it is argued here that there is an ongoing need to think critically about locality, specifically through the concept of the site to ground negotiations of identity, political solidarity, and citizenship. The site is not only defined geographically but exists as the result and embodiment of particular historical, socio political, and economic conditions. With this as a backdrop, I suggest that critical artistic practices function as experiments in the continued re-imagination and reclamation of the Polish site, and argue that media art is an important tool in processes of self enfranchisement. I frame these practices through a theoretical exploration of media art and media theory, and through a Polish archaeology of experimentation that includes the Constructivists of the 1920s-1930s, the Workshop of the Film Form in the 1970s, the public performances of the 1980s, and the neo-expressionism of the 1990s. I then turn to the work of nine contemporary artists (Rafal Jakubowicz, Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Hubert Czerepok, Grzegorz Rogala, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Aleksandra Wasilkowska, Dominik Lejman, Izabella Gustowska, and Piotr Wyrzykowski) as examples of critical and experimental media art practice, and suggest that their work can be interpreted as a negotiation of one of three aspects—or ecologies—of the Polish site: the past, democracy, and mediation. I propose that such artistic practices intervene in these ecologies by enabling the pluralization of history and memory, the emergence of public spaces of appearance and communication, and the demystification of the processes of mediation of life and self. I propose therefore that critical media art practices can be understood as site-specific experiments within the ecologies of site and act as provocations or challenges to current political and economic ideologies and hegemonies. In this way they provide a particular opportunity for re-becoming political, critical, and engaged with the broader issues that define and shape the Polish site of this particular period. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract....................................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures........................................................................................................................ iv Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: The Country on the Moon; Or, Artists Reclaim the Polish Site .........................................23 Chapter 2: An Archaeology of Polish Media Art: Legacies of Experimentation ................................ 61 Chapter 3: The Many Stories of Site: History, Memory, and the Pluralization of the Past .............. 105 Chapter 4: Creating Public Space: Media Art Interventions and “Me” ..................... 149 Chapter 5: Narratives of the Media Ecology: Mediations of Self and Site ........................................190 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 233 References ........................................................................................................................... 245 Appendices Appendix A: Ethics Approval Form......................................................................275 Appendix B: Informed Consent Forms ................................................................. 277 LIST OF FIGURES Figures 1-4. Rafal Jakubowicz, Swimming Pool, Poznan 2003/2006, postcard and video stills. Courtesy and © the artist Figures 5-6. Rafal Jakubowicz, Es beginnt in Breslau, Galeria Awangarda, Wroclaw 2008 (Work can be found in the collection of the Dolnosl^skie Towarzystwo Zach^ty Sztuk Pi^knych), neon, installation on facade of gallery building. Courtesy and © the artist Figure 7. Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Wartopia, Gauforum, 80 x 80 cm. Courtesy of Le Guem Gallery © the artist. Figure 8. Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Wartopia, View of the Citadel from the West, 19 x 26 cm. Courtesy of Le Guem Gallery © the artist. Figure 9. Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Wartopia, Gauforum, general view from the North-West, 19x39 cm. / Courtesy of Le Guem Gallery © the artist. Figure 10. Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Wartopia, View of Gauforum and Volkshalle from the North, 38x100 cm. / Courtesy of Le Guem Gallery. © the artist. Figure 11. Aleksandra Polisiewicz, Wartopia, View of Gauforum from the W est, 26 x 35 cm. Courtesy of Le Guem Gallery © the artist. Figures 12-16: Grzegorz Rogala, Stills fromShadow. Interactive Projection. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 17. Hubert Czerepok, Strange Tourists, 2007, installation view, 2008 Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figures 18-19. Hubert Czerepok, Strange Tourists, 2007, series of 18 photographs, 38 x 38 cm each. Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figure 20. Hubert Czerepok, Strange Tourists. The Flying Saucer, 2007, model 1:10 Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figure 21. Hubert Czerepok, Haunebu, 2008, c-print, 125 x 125 cm Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figure 22. Hubert Czerepok, Haunebu, 2008, set of 10 drawings, 42 x 29,5 cm each Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figure 23. Hubert Czerepok, Haunebu, 2008, set of 46 photographs, 13 x 18 cm each Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. iv Figure 24-25. Exhibition view Hubert Czerepok, Haunebu at ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin, 2008 Courtesy of ZAK I BRANICKA, Berlin © the artist. Figures 26-28: Warsaw Projection, 2005. Public video projection at the Zach^ta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland. Organized in conjunction with the retrospective exhibition Monument Therapy © Krzysztof Wodiczko. Courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York. Figure 29. Dominik Lejman. It Is Enough To Go For a Walk, 2008. Projection view. Courtesy and © the artist. Figures 30-34. Aleksandra Wasikowska. Fluctuating Microclimat, 2007. Installation view. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 35. Izabella Gustowska. Art of Choice, 2006. Multimedia installation. National Museum in Poznan, 2007. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 36. Izabella Gustowska. Art o f Hard Choice, 2006. Multimedia installation. Program Gallery, Warsaw. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 37. Izabella Gustowska. Art o f Choice, 2006. Multimedia installation: 8 projections, 150 light box, objects. National Museum in Poznan, 2007. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 38. Izabella Gustowska. Art o f a Hard Choice, 2006. Frame projection/Crying: 1 of 24 different sequences of sound video image. Courtesy and © the artist. Figure 39. Izabella Gustowska. She-Ona: Media Story. 33 projections, 1 monitoring, 3 Plasma, 10 extras, 1 dog. Old Slaughterhouse, Poznan. MALTA: International