A very high level of self-awareness

The photographs from the A very high level of self-awareness series can be acknowledged as a manifestation of the tendency towards ironic commentary that pervades contemporary Polish art. The work of the Magisters group is thus in line with the output of artists who wield caricature and absurdity as the primary tools for interpretation, such as Józef Robakowski or the Azorro group to name but two.

The absurdity of the situation captured in the work from Kolekcja II does not require much commentary. The young men have their turtlenecks pulled up over their heads and are sitting at a cluttered table in a nondescript room. The cups and jars of preserves littering the table top, the archaic sewing machine with a teapot, box and other junk, and the wicker basket on the floor suggest the room’s makeshift arrangement. This is how our imaginations conjure up the stereotypical quarters of caretakers and boiler room attendants, or temporary dwellings to which the owners or tenants don’t attach any future.

The time and place in which the subjects of the photo reside does not glisten with optimism. And this sense of gloom automatically marks whatever future there is for the men in the photo. The messy space can be treated as a voluminous metaphor to be extrapolated to the country’s socio-political realities and economic situation which condition the future outlook of many people, especially the youth. Joblessness, a lack of a place of their own and a sense of instability are problems that currently touch a large number of university graduates. The heads ensconced in turtlenecks should not, however, be interpreted as being “buried in the sand,” as flight or as a fear of the struggle for the future. It is rather a symptom of conscious apathy, of accepting the existing reality and, what’s more, of being convinced that the situation in which we find ourselves is a permanent one. Resorting to absurdity and immersing oneself in nonsense is therefore, in a way, a defence mechanism – the only sensible demeanour in such dismal circumstances.

Izabela Kopania