W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia 2008-2010

Opening in Elbląg

2010-07-13T04:19:00.000-07:00

Opening of the The Pursuit of Happiness exhibition in Elbląg took place on the 9th of July 2010 at 6pm. On the exhibition works by 14 artists of 35 participating in the exhibition in Poznan were presented to the public.

Exhibition goes to Elbląg

2010-07-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

Part of The Pursuit of Happiness Exhibition from Poznan is now being shown in Elbląg at the gallery inside The Center of European Meetings "Światowid". Due to the space limitations and technical conditions works by only 14 of 35 re were put on display there. Artists participating in the show in Elbląg are: Alexander Bates, Melissa Bugarella, Tinsel Edwards, Maria Kjartansdottir, Michal Tkachenko, Mateusz Sadowski, James C. Fagan, Tomasz Madajczak, Eva Lis, Erica Scourti, Michael Davies, Ester Faiman, Charlie Coffey, Maddy Dickerson. The exhibition is open Monday to Friday from 10am till 4pm- from the 9th of July till the 13th of August 2010. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge and open to everybody.

Publikacja/Catalogue

2010-06-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Publication accompanying the Exhibition is already available for purhase at the Arsenał Gallery in Poznań.

Towarzysząca wystawie Publikacja jest już do nabycia w sklepiku Galerii Miejskiej Arsenał w Poznaniu. Istnieje również możliwość zamówienia publikacji pocztą po skontaktowaniu się z autorami: happinessexhibition@gmail.com

Finisaż wystawy/ The end of the exhibition in Poznań

2010-06-08T03:53:00.001-07:00

Finisaż wystawy/ The end of the exhibition in Poznan

The Pursuit of Happiness in Poznan, Poland is now over. Part of the exhibition together with a film documenting the project will be shown in Elbląg between 9th July and 18th August 2010.
Once Again we, as organizators of this event, would like to thank all the artists for their participation.

Wystawa W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia w Poznaniu dobiegła właśnie końca. Część ekspozycji razem z filmem dokumentującym projekt zostanie pokazana w Centrum Spotkań Europejskich w Elblągu pomiędzy 9-tym lipca a 18-tym Sierpnia 2010.Raz jeszcze pragnęlibyśmy, jako organizatorzy tego wydarzenia, podziękować wszystkim artystom za ich uczestnictwo.

I am Winner

2010-06-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Anna Kalwajtys "I am Winner" Performans/Performance 7th May 2010

Happiness!

2010-05-31T12:59:00.005-07:00

Merve Kaptan "Happiness!" wideo 2008

Objawy Pozytywne

2010-05-31T12:59:00.003-07:00

Mateusz Sadowski Cisza/ Silence, kadr z wideo/ still from video super 8 mm transfer

Gas, Mask, Rabbit

2010-05-31T12:59:00.001-07:00

Ester Faiman Królik w masce gazowej/ Gas, Mask, Rabbit, wydruk cyfrowy/ digital print 2008

Landing in Heaven

2010-05-31T12:53:00.001-07:00

Melissa Bugarella Lądowanie w niebie/ Landing in Heaven, kadr z wideo/ still from video 2008

Now, Then, Forever

2010-05-31T12:52:00.002-07:00

Maria Kjartansdottir Askar, el ultimo cingaro de Espana oraz No God, No House, No Country; fotografie z serii Teraz, Wtedy, Nigdy, Na zawsze/ Askar, el ultimo cingaro de Espana and No God, No House, No Country; photographs from the Now, Then, Never, Forever series 2008-2009

Table For One

2010-05-31T12:52:00.001-07:00

Andy D'Cruze Sound Installation, Instalacja dźwiękowa 2008- 2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Sound Installation

2010-05-31T12:38:00.001-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Hervé Perez aka Sndsukinspook Projekt instalacji dźwiękowej/ A project of the sound
installation 2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Videos Screening

2010-05-31T12:16:00.001-07:00

Gene-George Earle W Parku Hillfield (przyglądając się drodze Monkspath) / In Hillfield Park (overlooking Monkspath Hall Road), kadr z wideo/video still 2009

Marianna & Daniel O'Reilly Delivery, kadr z wideo/ still from video 2008

Matthew Verdon Na około wieży/ All Along The Watchtower, kadr z wideo/ still from video 2008

Fani Zguro Ulica Po Ulicy/Street By Street 2009 , NOX/ NOX 2004-2008 kadr z wideo/ still from video

Matuesz Sadowski The Call/The Call kadr z wideo/ still from video 2010

Siobhan Wanklyn Wyblakłe wspomnienia/ Faded Reminders, kadr z wideo/ still from video 2008

Risk is Good For the Soul

2010-05-27T13:20:00.001-07:00

Tinsel Edwards "Risk is Good For The Soul"

Tinsel Edwards "Optimistic, Realistic or a Cynic"

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka Tinsel Edwards "More Urgency" acrilic paint on canvas 2008

Tinsel Edwards "Paint Stuff" 2008

Linda Discopalma

2010-05-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartosz Augustyniak

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Paulina Płachecka "Linda Disopalma" videoinstallation 2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Tekla Woźniak

Wesoły Domek

2010-05-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Aneta Lis "Wesoły Domek" Interactive Installation 2008

Work a Day

2010-05-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

Alexander Bates "Work a Day" 2008-2010 Digital Slideshow/ Internet Project
dokumentacja/ documentation

Alexander Bates Linie/ Lines, obiekt/ object, 2008

Perfekto Insulo

2010-05-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Charlie Coffey

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Charlie Coffey "Map of Einsety", "Perfekto Insulo", "Map of South Pembroheshire" 2007

Zdjęcie/photo: Tekla Woźniak

Homopotencjalis

2010-05-27T09:41:00.001-07:00

Tomasz Madajczak "Homopotencjalis" video performance 2008 stills form video material

Theory of Happiness

2010-05-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

Zdjęcie/ photo:Dorota Kondek

Zdjęcie/ photo: Bartek Górka

Mike Davies "Theory of Happiness is Theory of Everything" 2008

Michael Davies Teoria szczęścia jest teorią wszystkiego/ A Theory of Happiness is a Theory of Everything, wydruk cyfrowy/ digital print 2008

Self Help Experiment

2010-05-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Kathryn Cooper HAF FORM "The Pursuit of Happiness" 2008-2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Stress

2010-05-27T09:25:00.001-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka Liz Wroe "Stress" installation 2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartosz Augustyniak

Everybody Understands Me

2010-05-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Erica Scourti "Everybody Understands Me" video 2008

Station

2010-05-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

zdjęcie/photo: Charlie Coffey Emily Paige Short's "Station" among other works (Tomasz Madajczak, Charlie Coffey, Liz Wroe, ALicja Rogalska), general view

Zdjćeice/photo: Bartek Górka

Spektrum

2010-05-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo:Dorota Kondek

Zdjęcia/photos: Bartek Górka

Zdjęcie/photo: Charlie Coffey

Erica Scourti "Spektrum" Slideshow 2009

The Pursuit of Happiness

2010-05-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Gene George Earle instalacja/ installation 2010

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Dream Machine

2010-05-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Zdjęcie/photo: Charlie Coffey

Eva Lis "Dream Machine" obiekt/object 2008

Zdjęcie/photo: Maddy Dickerson widok ogólny/general view

Practical Time Travel

2010-05-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

The Practical Time Travel Project

When was the last time you where happy? When will you be happy? Often these are the questions used the define happiness, making it appear to be a state which cannot exist within the present. This way of thinking about happiness makes pursuing it difficult, happiness is either behind you or just over the horizon, thinks of H.G Well’s time traveller leaving his present and setting out to discover his future utopia. One thing is sure, we have strong emotional ties to these moments, to these ‘happiness points’ past or future, which help us, define our position in time.

What if there was a way of visiting these ‘happiness points’ within time? We here at the Artistic Research and Special Experimentation Organisation believe that a strong emotional connection to points in time is the first stage in the development of time travel; this is why we present The Practical Time Travel Project. In order to collect data regarding time travel we need subjects to interact with our prototype time machine, each subject will required to use the Temporal Focus Unit (see Fig.1) which will focus Tychon energy into the mind this combined with the subjects connection to their ‘happiness point’ within their life time will enable them to travel, mentally, through time. With practice the user will be able to connect with the ‘happiness point’ of someone who is not themselves and travel beyond their life’s timeline.

Users who are sufficiently confidant about their level of future happiness will be able to project their thoughts into the future, this will of course this requires plenty of practice using the Temporal Focus Unit, are you willing to find happiness? Whenever it might be?

James C. Fagan 2008

Baset

2010-05-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Alicja Rogalska "Bastet" 2008 kadry z wideo/video stills

zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

New Revolution

2010-05-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Maddy Dickerson "New Revolution" 2009-2010

Such Work

2010-05-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka widok

Piotr Żyliński "Taka Praca"/ "Such Work" video installation 2010 still from video material

zdjęcie/photo: Maddy Dickerson

Zdjęcie/photo: Charlie Coffey

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

Windmills of Your Mind

2010-05-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Zdjęcia/photos: Bartek Górka

Louise Adkins "Windmills of Your Mind" video projection 2008, still from a video material

Zdjęcia/photos: Dorota Kondek

Chocolate Fountain

2010-05-25T10:38:00.001-07:00

zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Zdjęcia/ Photos: Ivo Nikić

BREATH BUT DO NOT TALK

2010-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Justyna Scheuring Instalacje Peroformatywna "Oddychaj ale nic nie mów"
Performative Installation "Breathe but don't talk" 7th May 2010

Satisfaction with Life Index Map

2010-05-19T12:33:00.001-07:00

Satisfaction with Life Index Map – published in White, A. (2007). A Global Projection of Subjective Well-being: A Challenge To Positive Psychology? Psychtalk 56, 17-20. Map coloured according to The World Map of Happiness world/sample.html> , Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist, University of Leicester. "The data on SWB [Subjective Well-Being] was extracted from a meta-analysis by Marks, Abdallah, Simms & Thompson (2006).

Green = most happy
Blue
Purple
Orange
Red = least happy

"(...)Strangely enough, I came across this map of the world that colour codes countries by levels of happiness. I am curious to see that Canada (my home country) is “most happy”, while the old Soviet Union (my father’s country of origin is least happy). I recall going through some very melancholic phases of art making and my dad’s response was always, “that is the Slavic in you.” I wonder if different country groups and cultures measure happiness or contentment differently? Or, in fact, are they just more or less happy?

In the end, I realize I often struggle with the pursuit of happiness. I have struggled through feeling as though I should just be giving my life up to helping those with less, but unable to find my own personal fullfilment in that. I have struggled with wanting to make art and how to reconcile the making of excess objects for the elite or the select few. I have struggled with what is really important in life, my own desires versus selfless ones. Ultimately it might all be summed up by admitting that I am in denial that my whole life is actually in a frantic pursuit of happiness. "

Michal Tkachenko 2008

http://www.michal.ca

Zdjęcie/photo: Bartek Górka

Zdjęcie/photo: Dorota Kondek

YES in Poznań

2010-05-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

"Make him realise that by the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes - a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes"

E .M Forster - A Room with a view (1908) page 26

Jerome Harrington "Investment, Benefits, Dividends"
Installation 2006-2010
(plastic sheeting, duct tape, plastic, wood, steel, air)

zdjęcia/photos: Jerome Harrington

Jerome Harrington "Investment, Benefits, Dividends"

A large inflatable YES constructed of plastic sheeting and duck tape, Investment, Benefits, Dividends invites the viewer to become participant, by manually pumping air into the form. This volume can be added to and increased over the duration of the exhibition. Individual effort becomes contained and visible, although now no longer noticeable as an individual contribution. The degree to which the form reaches full inflation serves as a record or statement of the passion and commitment of the work’s audience.

At the beginning of the exhibition the form lies slumped and deflated on the floor. In this state it is illegible, a crumpled pile, unclear what shape it will become upon inflation.

Demanding the investment of the viewer’s time and energy, Investment, Benefits, Dividends makes connections to manual labour, exercise, or weight lifting. For a brief period the work promotes the formation of a grouping or community, united in a common purpose. Upon completion come feelings of elation; but also of guilt and disillusionment as the form quickly slumps.

http://www.jeromeharrington.net/

Installation had been created in 2006, and was transported to Poland from UK specially for the purpose of the exhibition in Poznan.

zdjęcia/photos: Tinsel Edwards

zdjęcia/photos: Bartek Górka

Wernisaż/ Opening

2010-05-08T14:25:00.001-07:00

Wernisaż wystawy rozpoczął się 7go maja 2010 o godzinie 19tej przemówieniami przed wejściem do galerii.

The Opening started on the 7th of May 2010 at 7pm with speaches at the gallery's entrance.

Fragment Realizacji Justyny Scheuring "Oddychaj, ale nic nie mów" na zewnątrz galerii/ Fragment of Justyna Scheuring's work "Breathe but don't talk" Outside the gallery

Dolne piętro Galerii/Gallery's Ground Floor

Górne piętro Galerii/Gallery's Top Floor

zdjęcia/ photos: Galeria Arsenał/ Arsneal Gallery, Tinsel Edwards, Emily Paige Short, Maria Kjartansdottir,Michal Tkachemko

Artyści Międzynarodowi przyjeżdżający do Poznania/ International Artists comming to Poznan

2010-05-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

Większość z biorących udział w wystawie artystów przybyła do Poznania, często po raz pierwszy, na montaż i wernisaż. Wszyscy czynnie uczestniczyli w przygotowaniu ekspozycji.

Most of the artists participating in the exhibition arrived to Poznan, often for the first time, for exhibition making and the opening. All of them actively participated in preparing the display.

zdjęcia/ photos: Louise Adkins & Angela Davies

zdjęcia/ photos: Tinsel Edwards

zdjęcia/ photos:Angela Davies

zdjęcia/ photos: Emily Paige Short

zdjęcia/ photos: Maria Kjartansdottir

Teksty krytyczne i utwory literackie 2009, część 4/ Critical and Creative Writings 2009, part 4

2010-04-30T02:41:00.000-07:00

Przepraszamy, tekst na chwilę obecną dostępny tylko w wersji angielskojęzycznej.

As we are getting closer to the exhibition at the Arsenał Gallery in Poznań, we would like to look back into The Pursuit of Happiness Project's past. Every Friday starting from today we are going to publish on the blog one of the texts that were included in The Pursuit of Happiness publication in October 2009.

This week a text by Kristina Juntilla.

How is it to live in an old folks home? How can we exercise freedom while our lives are restricted?

For three weeks during the summer 2008 performance artist Kristina Junttila (1977) lived in the old folks home "Kajalakoti" in Pertteli, Finland. She lived the daily routine, shared stories and exercised freedom together with the people that lived there. The project was part of the environmental art exhibition and happening Hiidentie.

Kristina wrote a blog about her life at Kajalakoti and here are edited from this blog(www.pysahdykajalakodissa.blogspot.com). Maybe it has to do with the Pursuit of Hapiness? I know this is not critical writing in that sense, but if you are interested in some of the text, I can also send one or two images.

Arrival, Monday June 2, 2008

I arrived at Kajalakoti ten minutes after 2 pm on Sunday. At this moment of stepping into an unknown project I feel more distant to it and unsure of it as opposed to when I was planning it. I love planning, but we understand something by approaching it. This is an approach. The doors are always locked here. I lock myself in.

- A suitcase with printer, paper, laptop and underwear to fill the holes.

- A backpack with clothes, camera, sound recorder, table cloth, books, knitting wear and pictures of my grandparents.

- A handbag with fruits, money and my calender.

It takes time to feel at home and my way of approaching new places is to clean and move furniture. The furnitures in my room were quiet heavy, but at least I have the strength to move them.

Sleeping. In the middle of the day.

I dont have a pyjamas like the other inhabitants have and I dont have a worker costume, but I have a sign which says ”artist Kristina”. Moving into an old folks home is in many ways a lonely process.

A search for the everyday, Tuesday June 3, 2008

8 am Breakfast.

11:30 am Lunch.

2 pm Coffee.

4 pm Dinner.

6 pm Evening meal.

Just hanging around, Wednesday June 4, 2008.

Seems like the time before bedtime is more restless time than morning. The hallway has allready been walked several times and the painkiller has stopped working. You are searching for your room and still the room that is being told is yours, is not your home. Jelousy towards those that had a better day. The joy of always having people around to talk to, turns into bragging. Clapping hands and searching for your room while childrens TV is showing a purple dance. Kids and old people dont always do like they are told to. Why would they?

Just hanging around. During the nightshift the sounds are sharper. The body has a chance to rest and for those bodies that dont want to rest the sleeping medicine might help. The 10 pm routine check is on its way. Dreaming of places I feel free or running as fast as can be. The TV is still on, but this time there is dramatic music and empty tree houses. Also death is part of a routine. Why wouldnt it be?

Just hanging around.

Time, Wednesday June 4, 2008

I have only been here three days and still I am at times already loosing track of time. What day is it and what time is it? Anyway, there is light outside all the time. I still sleep well throughout the whole night, but others might get dressed at 3 am to go and have breakfast.

”Now it is night. Go back to your bed.” ”It is wednesday and it is already june.” ”Today is not a holiday, it is a normal weekday.” ”We are at Kajalakoti and this is your home.” ”Your room is on the other side.”

If I was to tell exactly what I do and what happens every day it would be a lot of repetition. The one major repetition that you always meet in institutions is to not waste, but to save money. I am still not into this institution enough to notice the saving here, but I have noticed that the people living here are good at saving. The woman folds their napkins carefully so that they can be used again. In a day full of repetition and being I start to learn to pay attention do details. At this moment two fasans are passing my window. I havent seen the rabbit yet today.

Today a coffin left Kajalakoti. A gathering and a small ceremony while the coffin leaves. Today is "Toivon päivä". It means the day of the hope.

Memory of a wish

8 years ago my friend Anna said that she wishes to live in an old folks home so she can get food served, lay down and just watch TV all day. Myself, I think I want to be the person that always walk back and forth with a rulator in the hallway.

What person do you want to be in the old folks home?

- The one that always lay down and watch TV

- The one that always tries to escape through the front door

- The one that always is seated at the table twenty minutes before the food is served

- The one that is flirting with all the girls

- The one that gets blue marks from any minor lift

- The one that always walk back and forth with the rulator

- The one that talks to everybody

- The one that wants to be forced to join the others

- The one that gives candies to all the workers

- The one that tell stories about the beatifull past

- The one that tell stories about the painfull present

- The one that is expected to die any moment

- The one that gets visitors all the time

- The one that is the oldest in the house

- The one that

Opening, June 5, 2008

What do we actually need in life? In the institution we get what we need. The workers give it to us. Food, medicine, clean gebiss and the hat to protect for the sun. It is like keeping track of sixty children or spending time in a long school camp. Where there is place for even unexpected love stories. Is this a place where it is allowed to fall in love? What do we actually need in life?

BINGO, June 7, 2008

65 – 2, bingo!

Come and play,

you can win a lemonade

or a green apple.

We watch, we snatch, we match, we catch

Porridge, June 9 20098

In Finland there are many words for porridge and at Kajalakoti I am daily learning the taste of a new porridge. For breakfast I had porridge with dates, for lunch I had berry porridge and for evening meal I had potato porridge. Porridge seems to be easy to eat and it is good for the stomach. Since I had so much porridge they still havent given me medicine to get the stomach working

Even though my stomach works fine, my head has been like a porridge today. Nothing really motivates. Shoulders are stiff and my feet have only walked on hard floors. I guess my body is aging. Because of clouds, I havent put on my Anti-Age Sun Cream. Are we against age because we fear pain, death or wrinkles?

“What the Hell, is it the death, cause my throat is hurting so much”

Was the first sentence that met me today. Talking about the body is a main subject. Every body part is a possible enemy. While the workers have an extra busy morning because of sickness leaves, we have an extra quite morning. We wait. We look at the floor. We wait. I actually feel a bit stupid. Luckily the porridge tastes good.

The twelve porridges on this weeks menu: Jukolanpuuro. Luumupuuro. Perunapuuro. Ruishutalepuuro. Mannapuuro. Vispipuuro. Ohrahiutalepuuro. Jukolanvehnäpuuro. Kaurapuuro. Grahamvelli. Ohrahintalevelli. Uunipuuro.

Changes, June 10 2008

It is 10th of June, half past seven in the morning. I will go upstairs to wait for my porridge.

From next year onwards there will happen a lot of changes at Kajalakoti. New people will die and others will come. But the changes I talk about has started on a bureaucratic level and will find its way into the life here. As far as I can understand, they are making the institutions more effective. Who knows what will happen?

We can never know. I just know that I like to dream my own life and make decision based on that. I am a performance artist. The context and the place is usually my working tools. I am interested in art in the everyday and the much used participatory performances. Talking about art can be as boring as politics. If I was now to go up and do a performance I could:

* Put as many tables of top of each other as I manage, climb up and ask the others to come as well

* Ask who wants to have a ride on the steelbed (bed for corpses) and drive around with it and leave it in its fridge for a while

* Sing a lullaby

* Write on the chalkboard; Today is the day for us to love each other

* Give all the workers a big glass of digestion medicine

* See if all the people in the house are able to hold hands around in the hallway

Like that, June 14

Even if you today went to sit in your right chair for evening meal, you might forget your place tomorrow.

When someone goes to sit in a wrong chair because they forgot were they place is or maybe just wants to sit in a new place, there is always a moment of confusion. Some of us are waiting for an expert(someone that works here) to get the person on the right track, some are using the situation to have a small fight, one person leaves because of an uncomfortable situation, some people look down and others try to turn it into a joyfull moment.

Today I for the first time fell asleep in the rocking chair. The magic two weeks has passed and from now on I could start knowing how I would make Kajalakoti my home. If I was to do that, I wished that I could fall asleep many times in the common area and have enough time to make it my home before I was off to tomorrowland.

These are words that drown into the paper soup.

These are words that remain.

These are words that have wings.

I am packing.

O autorce:/ About the author:

Kristina Junttila jest artystką performance mieszkającą w Norwegii i Finlandii. Uzyskała tytuł magistra w dziedzinie live art oraz licencjat z wiedzy o teatrze na Akademii Teatralnej w Helsinkach. W 2005 roku uczestniczyła w programie wymiany studenckiej w Dartington College of Arts w Anglii. Tekst, który opublikowała dla projektu W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia powstał podczas projektu performance zrealizowanego przez artystkę w domu spokojnej starości.

Kristina Junttila is a performance artist based in Norway and Finland. She recently obtained her MA in Live Art and Theory at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006 she received a BA Degree in Contemporary Theatre at that institution. In 2005 she was studying at the Dartington College of Arts, as an exchange student. For The Pursuit of Happiness project she proposed a text created during her performance project implemented at the old people’s home.

Montaż/ Exhibition Making

2010-04-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Teksty krytyczne i utwory literackie 2009, część 3/ Critical and Creative Writings 2009, part 3

2010-04-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

Zbliżając się do wystawy w poznańskiej galerii Arsenał chcielibyśmy przypomnieć o powstałych w ramach projektu W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia tekstach. W każdy kolejny piątek bedziemy zamieszczać na blogu jeden z tekstów, który był opublikowany w publikacji w The Pursuit of Happiness w październiku 2009.

W tym tygodniu publikujemy tekst Adama Goodwina.

Przepraszamy, tekst na chwilę obecną dostępny tylko w wersji angielskojęzycznej.

As we are getting closer to the exhibition at the Arsenał Gallery in Poznań, we would like to look back into The Pursuit of Happiness Project's past. Every Friday starting from today we are going to publish on the blog one of the texts that were included in The Pursuit of Happiness publication in October 2009.

This week - a text on happiness by Adam Goodwin.

You can very rarely go beyond the beyond in life. Of course people may be inclined to try and this is reflected most in our childhood and teenage years where dreams of flight and other such impossible, yet fanciful thoughts, can be found dominating a young mind. As age takes its inevitable hold these dreams are transported into the more normal modes of life that most people recognise as everyday; New Years resolutions that never last longer than two weeks or radical career changes that one imagines will bring fortitude to an otherwise shaky existence. Perhaps the most unlikely culprit of all this, the motivation that we are told to embrace, is happiness. Happiness is the ultimate in frustrating objectives, it’s supposed transcendental properties only serve to confuse and obscure that which it is trying to rise above. Happiness is the beyond, it is the eternal earthbound goal of humankind and it scares us. Throughout life happiness clings to, and dominates, the mind. It is the foundation from which our dreams are built and it is the graveyard in which we hope our dreams will lie. Yet although it seems like such an innocent and altruistic ambition, something that we should all try and achieve, it leads to confusion and chaos. Constructing a happy life is impossible when the definition of the word is wrought in such futility.

Daily life is wrapped up in and completely engulfed by happiness. This sole objective courses through the veins of nearly every living human being in the developed world and seeks solace in the everyday activities of these people who try and maintain regular normality with society in the hope that others will perceive them as being happy. The day has been complicated by the petty achievements of man, we are far too concerned with how well we are doing and how far we have come, to see that thought cannot truly exist until you remove all of the trappings of a society filled with people who are devoid of the ability to better themselves from within. They assume that happiness should be their ultimate goal; you will not be able to convince them that in many ways it is evil and it is poisoning our society. For most people happiness is measured by what others think, they have become too attached with professing a sense of achievement through comparison with those around them. One can compliment another, and in this way make the person happy. It is a sort of self-convincing technique that we are all guilty of because when someone is perceived to be happy, they feel happiness themselves and this being the ‘ultimate’ goal of our society they stop striving for anything more. Their head becomes filled with the links between them and those around them, their brain can no longer comprehend a host of more important questions and actions because they have stepped into a quagmire created by man to keep man on the straight and narrow. Happiness is measured through the interaction with others rather than themselves. It drives people in completely the wrong direction; they forget their own thoughts in place of thoughts for others. They fight to maintain equilibrium in society by filling their heads with the immediate desire to be happy. They forget themselves entirely and base their lives on what others have built before them.

In a complete paradox the night provides a calming bastion of progressive thought. The association of the night with evil serves to transcend the pursuit of happiness and instead forces people to search for reason and truth. However far from being evil and neglectful it allows for thought to flow freely without interruption from all the mental and physical demands that the day brings. The night enables one to unfold their brain into the world without risking the danger of polluting their thoughts with those of the people around them. The world is at peace in the hours of darkness that serve to shroud man’s achievements in a calming veil. Whilst cities lay sleeping one can appreciate the true beauty of human kind through inflection of thought. These hours are no longer a motivation for development and success but for clear and rational thought that has the ability to destroy perception and strip back all the insecurities that define our society and the way we live our lives. The darkness, the inactivity, the quiet, the barren; all these things catalyse lucid thought and enable a different state of mind where one can forget about their fellow Man and instead concentrate on themselves. One can almost gain a kind of power of perceptive vision that enables them to see through the shroud and appreciate life in an entirely different state of mind. A state of mind that doesn’t require the compliments of others to achieve greatness or solidarity within themselves. A state of mind that doesn’t strive for happiness as people perceive it today, but instead strives for the ability to build a strong foundation from within, a foundation that cannot be rocked or shattered by the useless comments of those who fight so vainly to maintain their reputation amongst others.

Happiness is not some unachievable magical aspiration however it is so amazing and impossibly fantastic that the brain can’t entirely comprehend it. It shouldn’t necessarily be ingrained in us that happiness is this all-encompassing necessity of life. Perhaps a better solution would be to remove the importance of it so that it is merely an unexpected by-product of our actions, serving to reward our good decisions rather than frighten our fragile thoughts.

O autorze:/ About the author:

Adam Goodwin (ur. w 1985) studiował historię ze specjalizacją w historii społecznej. W Manchesterze był organizatorem licznych eventów łączących muzykę i sztukę. Obecnie mieszka w Londynie i zajmuje się pisaniem tekstów krytycznych. Adam pracuje również nad książką dotyczącą debaty społecznej, która będzie zbiorem krótkich historii.

Adam Goodwin (b.1985) graduated from university in History, specialising in social history. After organising a number of events combining music and art in Manchester he moved to London to pursue a career in the creative arts whilst focusing on critical writing. He is currently writing a book on social discourse and compiling a publication of short stories.

Malarstwo i Tekst/Paintings and Text

2010-04-22T23:12:00.001-07:00

Wystawa W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia jest z założenia intermedialną.

The Pursuit of Happiness Exhibition is intended to be the Intermedia one.

Oprócz wideo isntalacji czy instalacji interaktywnych znajdą się na

niej również prace wykonane w bardziej klasycznych technikach, nie zapomnieliśmy również o malarstwie.

Apart from video installations in interactive installation works pursued in more conventional techniques will be included in the show. We haven't forgotten about painting.

Tinsel Edwards jest artystką zainspirowana kulturą D.I.Y. (Zrób to sam), duchem rebelii, punka i lo-fi. Ukończyła Goldsmiths University of London.
Jej prace są promowane przez Stella Dore Gallery i były pokazywane jak
dotąd w Wielkiej Brytanii, Irlandii i Niemczech.

W swoich pracach Tinsel używa sloganów, zestawień słów
układających się w krótkie anegdoty i komentarze do ogólnych
przemyśleń na temat rzeczywistości. Kolor i figuratywne elementy
kompozycji pozostają tu czymś wtórnym, acz nie pozbawionym
znaczenia. Jaskrawe barwy i ostre kontrasty stają się jej cechami

charakterystycznymi. Obrazy artystki to jednocześnie osobiste
narracje i społeczne komentarze.

Tinsel podoba się idea robienia prac, które stawiają wyzwanie dla
ludzkiego strachu lub sugerują społeczną zmianę. Niedawne
realizacje artystki prowokować mogą właśnie do stawiania pytań o
źródła strachu i o to, co powstrzymuje ludzi przed działaniem.

Na wystawie W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia pokarzemy dwa obrazy

Tinsel z 2008 roku "More Urgency" i "Paint Stuff".

Paulina Płachecka jest malarką zafascynowaną kiczem i
odwołaniami do popkultury. Absolwentka Wydziału Malarstwa
na ASP w Poznaniu w 2005 roku. Mieszka i pracuje w
Poznaniu. Zajmuje się przed wszystkim ekspresyjnym

malarstwem łączonym z rysunkiem. Często wykorzystuje
w swoich realizacjach ręcznie wpisywane fragmenty
sloganów i wymyślanych przez siebie wyrarzeń.

Na wystawie W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia, oprócz wideo i
instalacji pokarze specjalnie namalowany na tę okazję
kolorowy mural, który zawiśnie na zewnątrz galerii.

Tinsel Edwards "Risk is Good for the Soul"

Tinsel Edwards "Optimisitc, Realistic or a Cynic?"

Paulina Płachecka "The Pursuit of Happiness" 2010

Plakat wystawy/ The exhibition's poster

2010-04-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Prezentujemy oficjalny plakat wystawy W poszukiwaniu szczęścia wydany przez Galerię Miejską Arsenał w Poznaniu. Zdjęcie: fragment pracy Ester Faiman Gas Mask Rabbit. Dzieki uprzejmości artystki. / Below is the official poster for The Pursuit of Happiness exhibition published by the Arsenał Gallery in Poznań. Image: Ester Faiman Gas Mask Rabbit (detail). Courtesy of the artist.

Teksty krytyczne i utwory literackie 2009, część 2/ Critical and Creative Writings 2009, part 2

2010-04-16T02:55:00.001-07:00

Zbliżając się do wystawy w poznańskim Arsenale chcielibyśmy przypomnieć o powstałych w ramach projektu W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia tekstach. W każdy kolejny piątek bedziemy zamieszczać na blogu jeden z tekstów, który był opublikowany w książce w The Pursuit of Happiness w październiku 2009.

W tym tygodniu publikujemy tekst Mariilaury Ghidini Never When It Happens. Only Afterwards.

Przepraszamy, tekst na chwilę obecną dostępny tylko w wersji angielskojęzycznej.

As we are getting closer to the exhibition at the Arsenał Gallery in Poznań, we would like to look back into The Pursuit of Happiness Project's past. Every Friday starting from today we are going to publish on the blog one of the texts that were included in The Pursuit of Happiness book in October 2009.

This week - Marialaura Ghidini Never When It Happens. Only Afterwards.

Never when it happens. Only afterwards.

The task of writing a text about videos and happiness requires finding an angle from which to explore their relationship; a common element that will enable me to discuss a selection of videos responding to ideas related to the pursuit of happiness.

What comes first to my mind is the difference between the two; video is a physical, and mechanical, mode of reproducing the surroundings, while happiness is a very abstract and intangible feeling brought forth by the experience of something. The former is a tool for rendering reality and the latter an index of our satisfaction with reality.

But what could the connection of the two be? Their both being tied to reality, their subjective nature or something else?

In the concept of time, I suppose; in the idea of the afterwards.

“When were you happiest?

A few times when I looked forward to a happy moment or remembered it - never when it was happening.”

The above excerpt from Slavoj Žižek's interview published in The Guardian[1] suggests that happiness is not felt at the same moment an event occurs. Despite being tied to a specific circumstance, happiness is a feeling experienced either at an earlier or later moment than that of the event itself; that is the time of expectation or post-reflection. Because I conceive expectation as an equivalent to excitement or longing, which to me differ from happiness, I will concentrate on the idea of the afterwards, of the later on.

Happiness is often not in the present. It is probably because happiness is different than pleasure, satisfaction or contentness. Unlike these feelings, happiness steps out of the moment and becomes manifest at a later stage, when things are looked from a certain distance. Perhaps, the central point is that happiness is at a degree of removal from the moment to which it directly refers; it seems to be detached from the concept of the in real time.

Even historically, the pursuit of happiness has been related to the concept of the afterwards. An example could be that of some socialist ideals that proposed regulated ways of living one's life in order to achieve the ultimate happiness.

As for this, the instance of Modernist architecture is emblematic, since it was more concerned with the future than with the present or past. Its aim was to improve the living environment by building housing estates, creating alternative urban conglomerations as well as experimenting with new possibilities of interior design. It did so in order to lay down the basis for the regeneration of society; better still, to initiate the process of creating a better society for future generations. These attempts exemplify to what extent Modernist architecture was related to projections and also, I would add, to the erasure of an unwanted past (by being inefficient to its cause). But I will expand on the latter point apropos the videos I selected for this text.

Going back to the video, I think that some of the properties I attributed to happiness can apply to its nature.

Video is not in the present time either. As happiness, video steps out of the moment; it is in a past than can only be experienced afterwards. Its content is always a re-working of an event in real time; if not, when the video is scripted, it is still something far away from the idea of spontaneous creation. And its content is always deciphered in the future.

Video entails a certain degree of removal too. Literally there is a lens that separates the surroundings and the filmmaker; there is a distance between what is shot and the person who shoots, and this distance is due to the decisions made at the time of filming. Yet, there is a gap between the content and the original material in that the editing process, no matter how much it is elaborated, produces changes and alterations. Even in the instance of a video shot in only one long take, some choices are made; choices that eliminate the possibilities of existence of other ways of rendering the original event.

Pasolini elaborates on the relationship between time and video in his essay “Observations on the long take[2]”:

But as soon as montage intervenes, when we pass from cinema to film (they are very different, just as langue is different from parole), the present becomes past: a past that, for cinematographic and not aesthetic reasons, is always in the present mode (that is, it is an historic present).

Pasolini introduces the idea of an historic present, a present that refers to a past or, even better, the historical present of the cinema, which looks at a present that has become past at the moment of filming and its experienced later on.

In Faded Reminders by Siobhan Wanklyn (2007), the pursuit of happiness is related to the exploration of three German Modernist locations. The focus is on the relationship between the video format and architecture, which is rendered through a dance between the camera and the urban landscape. The opening track shot examines a Modernist city that is depicted in negative, in the mode of an X-ray scan. This choice seems to hint at the dramatic reversal of meaning that Modernist ideals have undergone over history. To strengthen this shift, the artist animates the hyper-geometrical features of the buildings by playing with the camera movement, which, similarly to a fly, peruses the surroundings.

The video becomes a means for actualising a past that is lost; a past of which only a monument bears evidence of its existence.

Wanklyn's work searches for something that is not there (a past existing before the Modernist regeneration as well as a present that still awaits a better future to come); an attempt that has some similarities with the video of Fani Zguro, Nox (2004-2007).

Nox is a collage of film footage taken by the artist in 2004, which was then edited in 2007. It is a series of jump cuts proposing what, at a first sight, seems to be a random order of various nocturnal urban views. Images of buildings are proposed along with those of inhabited alleys and indiscernible people that are filmed while doing something or walking down the streets, leaving us to wonder about the eventual scope of their activities. The soundtrack heightens the fragmentation of the material offered to the viewer by sharply moving in between silent periods and moments filled with the noise of alarms and drills at work.

The video proposes a past that has been revitalised by putting pieces of a city nightlife into a sequence that acquires its raison d'être only when looked at from a certain distance; a distance produced by both Zguro's choice to shoot the footage in the night time and edit it three years later.

In the spaces of the two videos chronological time is put on hold, and yet, what resonates in the idle periods of Faded Reminders and Nox is the future. This future is exactly that stepping out of the moment I introduced before, which gives a new function, as well as an additional meaning, to the material used by the artists. The past is incorporated into a present that becomes a future in relation to the position of the viewer.

The afterwards of which I have been writing about is the resonance of something that has already happened, likewise the feeling of happiness and the recording of a camera, which are the reverberations of a moment that has already been experienced by the person that feels and by the one who shoots.

[1] Rosanna Greenstreet , The Q&A, in the Life&Style series, Weekeend Guardian; The Guardian, 9 August 2008, pg. 9, London or http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/09/slavoj.zizek

[2] Pier Paolo Pasolini, Observations on the Long Take, 1967, translated by N. MacAfee and C. Owens in October, issue n. 13, 1980; Rober Smithson, A cinematic Atopia, 1971, in Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings, edit by Jack Flam, University of California Press, 1996, Los Angeles

O autorce:/ About the Author:

Marialaura Ghidini (urodzona w 1980 we Włoszech) jest niezależną kuratorką mieszkającą w Londynie. W 2008 uzyskała tytuł magistra w dziedzinie krytyki sztuki i kuratorstwa na Chelsea College of Art and Design. Wraz z Gaią Tedone jest współzałożycielką 'Ping Pong'-a, projektu kuratorskiego, w ramach którego organizują pokazy wideo artu i filmów artystycznych. Ich dotychczasowe inicjatywy to "Back and Forth. And all over again" ("W tam i spowrotem. I jeszcze raz od nowa") oraz "Screen-play" w londyńskiej James Taylor Gallery. Marialaura pracuje również nad internetową witryną or-bits.com oraz współpracuje z internetowym magazynem "domusweb". Pozostałe projekty kuratorki to między innymi pokaz wideo artu 'Brilliant Noise' w Tate Britain, Londyn (2008) oraz wydarzenie 'Cocktail' w galerii w Wimbledon, London (2008).

Marialaura Ghidini (b. 1980, Italy) is an independent curator based in London. She obtained her MA in Critical Writing and Curatorial Practice at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2008. Recently she co-funded with Gaia Tedone 'Ping Pong', a curatorial double act that organizes video and film programmes, such as 'Back and Forth. And all over again' and 'Screen-play' at the James Taylor Gallery (London, 2009). She writes for the online magazine domusweb and is currently working on developing the web project or-bits.com. Past projects are the group exhibitions 'shot-countershot' and 'in and out of synch' at Chelsea College of Art and Design (London, 2008), the co-curated video screening 'Brilliant Noise' at Tate Britain, (2008) and the art event 'Cocktail' at the gallery at Wimbledon, London (2008).

Przygowtowanie nowych prac na wystawę/ Works in Progress

2010-04-14T03:55:00.001-07:00

Część artystów uczestniczących w projekcie W Poszukiwaniu Szczęścia przygotowuje na okazję wystawy w Poznaniu zupełnie nowe realizacje. Wśród nich jest Emily Paige Short, która zaprezentuje rzeźbę- instalację z elementami kintetycznymi. Użyje plastikowych rur do stworzenia 40 tójkątów, z których następnie zbuduje kopułę obiektu. Praca zostanie częściowo przewiezniona do Poznania z Londynu, a częściowo wykonana na miejscu w Galerii Miejskiej Arsenał.

Some of the artists participating in The Pursuit of Happiness Project are preparing new works especially for the exhibition in Poznan. Among others, Emily Paige Short will present a sculptural installation with kinetic elements. The artist will use plastic tubes to create 40 triangles, from which she will thereafter build the object's dome.The work will partly brought over to Poznan from London and partly constructed on site at the Arsenal Gallery.

Emily Paige Short, Kwiecień 2010/ April 2010 Londyn/ London

Artysta Ivo Nikić konstruuje rzeźbę-instalację odwzorowywującą dużo wymiarową fontannę czekoladową. Umieszczona na specjalnie wykonanym podeście fontanna będzie mieć około 180 cm wysokości.

Artist Ivo Nikić is constructing a sculpture-installation mapping a large scale chocolate fountain. Placed on a custom made landing the fountain will be aprox. 180 cm high.

Ivo Nikić, Kwiecień 2010/ April 2010 Warszawa/ Warsaw

Eva Lis odtwarza na potrzeby wystawy swoją instalację z 2008, w lekko zmienionej formie. Kartonowe pudełko zostaje zamienione w "Maszynę Marzeń". (Lub snów).

Eva Lis is re-creating her installation form 2008 in a slightly different form. A cardboard box is being transformed into a "Dream Machine".

Eva Lis, March 2010/ March 2010 London/ Londyn