I Got A Doggie

Piotr Kurka’s installations can be seen as constellations of objects interconnected by means of relations which are mysterious to the viewers. Dolls, magnifying glasses, toy animals, often old, or old-fashioned, and incompatible with the present times – all these items create autonomous worlds living their own lives. The artist resorts to ready-made or found objects, or creates them especially for the given work of art, making them to look old. They thus create a reflective, dreamlike aura. At the same time, Kurka’s installations draw on the sphere of his own experiences, which are important to his work, and the objects which he uses can be seen as a repository of his memories and meanings. They are thus close to the objects which Jean Baudrillard, the French philosopher and sociologist, termed as mythological objects.

I Got A Doggie is made up of a construction resembling a house or a dog kennel. One can peek inside the object through lenses placed at the two ends of the structure. Looking through one hole, one sees a legless rag dog, almost patted to death and with the fur almost entirely gone. When looking in at the opposite end, one sees an image of Catholic priests cut out from an old photograph, or a newspaper, and pasted on a bell-like form resembling a vessel once used for the collection of resin. The title of the work and destroyed toy suggest a return to childhood.

The work is a poetic reminiscence of Kurka’s childhood when he was an altar boy and received a puppy from a priest with whom he was friends. The priest helped the boy discover and learn about nature, which is referred to by the vessel for resin collection, evoking associations with its smell, taste and consistency. The symbolic motif of the house is also important here. The metal structure contains the world of memories and events which form an individual human being. The artist reveals its interior to the viewer, who can take a peek inside through the lens. The mascot, the resin container, the figure of the priest – all contain important experiences from the artist’s childhood: discovering and observing the world, and slowly saturating it with meanings, strongly connected with faith and the mystery of the sacrum.

Izabela Kopania