DANCING ELEPHANTS PERFORM TWIN TOWERS
OLGIERD / XYZ
DANCING ELEPHANTS PERFORM TWIN TOWERS
PAINT ON BOARD, EACH TOWER 66 X 297 CM OR HIGHER
CIRCUS IS A PLACE WHERE THE BOUNDARY OF SHOW IS PUSHED TO ITS EXTREME IN ORDER TO BRING EXCITEMENTS AND MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES. HOWEVER WHEN EVERY EVENT SURPASSES THE PREVIOUS ONE, THE AUDIENCE IS PROPOSED A FLOW OF INTENSE EMOTIONS THAT FADES AWAY WHEN THE NEW EVENT COMES. THE SPECTACLES NEED BY THEN TO BECOME BIGGER AND BIGGER. IT’S A SORT OF GUY DEBORD’S “SOCIETY OF SPECTACLE” WHERE THE SPECTATOR IS DEVOTED TO THE CONSUMPTION OF SPECTACLES AS ULTIMATE AND ONLY WAY OF LIVING.
ONE OF THE CIRCUS SHOWS IS DANCING ELEPHANTS. ATTRACTING THE ATTENTION BECAUSE OF THEIR HUGE BODIES, THEY PERFORM PERILOUS AND UNNATURAL HAND STANDING ON BALL OR IMITATE HUMAN DANCING. THEIR INDIVIDUALISM IS TAKEN AWAY – THEY BECOME SIMILAR TO INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS IN THE WAY OF ANDY WARHOL’S “CAMPBELL SOUPS”.
THERE IS FINALLY A THIRD AX FOR THIS WORK – THE TOWER. MAKING VAGUE REFERENCE TO KATARZYNA KOZYRA’S “ANIMAL TOWER”, BABYLON TOWER AND NEW YORK TWIN TOWERS, THE WORK IS REFLECTING A PLAY FROM THE OLD DAYS; BACK THEN KIDS WERE STACKING WOODEN BOXES TO MAKE THE TALLEST TOWER POSSIBLE. THE GAME ENDED UP WITH THE COLLAPSE OF THE TOWER THE GOAL AND “LA RAISON D’ETRE” FOR THIS CONSTRUCTION.
“DANCING ELEPHANTS PERFORM TWIN TOWERS” IS CONSTRUCTED ON THIS METAPHORS: GLOBAL SPECTACLE, DEGENERATION OF NATURAL ORDER, INSTABILITY WITH A SUPPOSED FINAL CRUSH IN AN AUTO-REFERENTIAL WORLD OF TWIN TOWERS. BEING A COMPOSITION OF 2 ELEMENTS – “BLUE BALL” AND “ DANCING ELEPHANT”, THE PAINTING IS LEAVING THE HEIGHT INDEFINITE WITH A POSSIBILITY TO EXTEND IT IN ACCORDANCE TO THE GROWING APPETITE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SPECTACLE.
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XPC13
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Last Saturday I was presenting my works during TEDx Pearl River event in Taikoo Place. If you don’t know what’s that a short description then : 25 years ago it started in California, an annual conference where the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to speak for 18 minutes. It’s really worth to check it online – some of the lectures are just amazing.
Anyway to make it clear I was not speaking there, I hope it will come one day. I was invited by one of the speakers doctor William Mak with whom I worked on his mobile laboratory design few years ago – MORE – http://dimmsumm.com/log/?p=203.
Loads of people, loads of coffee, loads of good lectures that inspire, ask question and push to go further with your own ideas. I guess the basic principle to start an amazing life’s trip is to just go beyond your everyday’s routine. Susan Bird, Monique Stauder, John Hardy, William Mak, Joanne Ooi, Mike Horn and Rob Steward did it and gave some great lectures ranging from green teaching, communication to microbiology and planet Earth protection. Check them!
For my part I’ve installed a tiny booth to present my “social reality” concept – speak about paintings and street performances as well as share some of the ideas for the future. It was good to be a part of it.