Artist
Bartłomiej Talaga
Visual and sound artist based in Łódź (Poland). In his artistic work, he uses photography, sound, video, installation. His exhibitions are site-specific.
His artistic work is closely related to the technological workshop, experimentation and the search for suitable means of expression to communicate content. He is interested in the interpenetration of the fields of art, where sound, image and space can provoke impulses through which intuition complements logical thinking – where the exposure to a work of art builds the experience of art.
Bartłomiej Talaga is a graduate of and teacher at the Film School in Łódź. In his work, he shares his own experience with students and focuses on the purposefulness and legitimacy of gestures that lead to personal and authentic expression. He is also a co-founder of the TON magazine (ton-mag.pl) and a designer of photography books.
Walk in Synchronicity
Walk in Synchronicity – provoking and discovering coincidences that, seemingly insignificant, become revelations. With a bit of luck, photography can recall them as echoes of moments experienced. Walking around and constantly returning to the same energetic and private places is a sign that the Universe is playing with us.
The question remains: who is a creator? Is the creator the designer of memories who arranges important, intense and authentic situations on the grid of his or her own beliefs? Or perhaps the creator is a flâneur? With these questions in mind, I walked around Polesie – the district of Łódź where I live. Its name in Polish comes from merging the words “after” and “forest”. Here, nature, the urban fabric, people – everything blends differently, more gently. Memories overlap and resonate... In this place, I can see the fusion of the old and the new, I record images and traces. Perhaps I am just a child here, looking for the perfect stick to play with?
Crystallization processes
Every compound that is capable of crystallizing is governed by an intrinsic law, a formula according to which it grows. If, during an experiment, molecules crystallize in places that have not been predicted by the geometrical grid, a defect occurs. However, the imperfection of a crystal can still be beautiful and legitimate. To me, crystallization becomes a metaphor for creativity, its processes, successes and mistakes.
Crystallization processes is a project in which I use the instrument of photography to explore crystallization as a natural process in the context of a creative method – a way of forming work. In 2019 I established a temporary research space called ZPMSKIPF (The Processing Plant of Artificial Materials, Crystallization and Photochemical Processes), where I set together some previous works in sync with objects that were especially prepared for the exhibition – artefacts resulting from chemical experiments.
In my portfolio, I present documentation from the ZPMSKIPF space, single works illustrating the effects of growing crystals of copper sulphate [CuSO4*5H2O] and a work showing the dying of organic matter of a liquid crystal screen, accompanied by a video.
Yulia Krivich is a visual artist and activist. She comes from Ukraine, but currently lives in Warsaw. In her works, she refers to her own experiences and touches upon the issues that are important to the identity of Central and Eastern Europe. Photography is one of her forms of artistic activity. Her performative actions, in which she draws attention to the presence of migrants in Poland as well as the historical dependencies and the resulting attitude of the Poles to migrants from the East are also hot-button issues in the Polish media. Through her artistic work, Yulia makes consistent efforts to bring the migrant community into the public debate in Poland and supports their integration.
It’s hard to describe the work of Bartłomiej Talaga in just a few words – he is a multimedia artist, musician, photography book designer and a Film School teacher. He is also an exploratory artist. His projects are interdisciplinary – they combine photography, music, multimedia, site-specific actions. Some of his works are also purely visual adventures based on intuition, but all of them are characterized by deep thought, mindful focus and exceptional artistic sensitivity.
“I will be mindful of the here and now” – this phrase repeats like a mantra on the pages of Karolina Ćwik’s album, which is a part of the Let’s build the virus series. Being here and now is probably the only way to survive a lockdown with two toddlers at home. Among the hundreds of “pandemic” projects, Karolina’s photos have a unique dose of emotion in them. There is chaos, fatigue, but most of all tenderness bordering on madness, just like in her previous motherhood project.
Maxim Sarychau is a visual artist and photojournalist from Belarus. In his long-term projects and his work as a reporter, he portrays the violence prevailing in authoritarian systems. He returns to hidden stories and gives voice to the victims. He refers to the history of Eastern Europe, but also documents contemporary events in Belarus, including the peaceful protests that took place in the summer and autumn of 2020 in Minsk after the fraudulent presidential election.
Milena Soporowska works in the field of visual arts and art history. In her artistic and research work, she deals with the interpenetration of esotericism with everyday life and the borders between the sacred and the profane. Each of her subsequent projects is a new chapter in this consistently constructed narrative. Based on detailed research, the author refers to the history of spiritualist movements, but at the same time takes up threads of contemporary spirituality.