The Flying Dutchman

Cezary Bodzianowski appears in places where he performs his actions unexpectedly, and his appearance in the given setting and the constructed event disrupts the rhythms of surrounding life. Though the artist says that the reactions of the viewers to the situations he composes are not that important to him, they still seem to be one of the key elements in his works. Bodzianowski’s actions are meticulously planned. The artist treats them as the effect of his study of reality and his observant strolls, which he believes to be the best way to learn about the world. He also compares the action to painting a picture; he talks about “representing a painting in the world” instead of “representing the world in a painting”. Hence the event is a specific ideal image in which the artist and the work begin to gradually merge to finally become a single entity.

The Flying Dutchman is a recording of an event which took place in 2003 in Katowice. Bodzianowski was sailing on a pond called Maroko, in a park near Osiedle Tysiąclecia (a city district). As is the case in many of his other works, the artist refers to a derelict place. The pond was created in an old mine pit, and its name comes from a term which was colloquially used for the poor Bederowiec district once located in the area. There is also music heard from off screen – a composition by Krzysztof Komeda for Roman Polański’s film Nóż w wodzie [Knife in the Water] (1961).

The basis for Bodzianowski’s actions is a hermetic narrative shaping an alternative reality in each of his images-happenings. In this piece, the collective set of themes is composed of the activity of the artist, as well as the legend of the title phantom ship bringing misfortune, and the elaborate plot of the film referenced by the music. The film’s action takes place on a sail boat occupied by a sports journalist with his wife and an incidental hitch-hiker. The event created by Bodzianowski is a departure from commonplace daily activity, hence it not only undermines everyday rituals but it also brings to life the manifold understanding of travel, which is present in both the legend and Polański’s film.

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