Monika Drożyńska

Ćwiczenia z patrzenia w dal / Exercises in Looking from a Distance, 2015

video projection

wall of the building at 22 Wilków Morskich Street (seen from Oliwska Street)

 

The minimalist formula of the film encapsulates a contemplative frame of the sea, with the clearly delineated line of the horizon and statically shot, anonymous figures, photographed from behind. The water and the murmur of the waves breaking on the shore are the only dynamic elements of the picture.

Looking from the distance, looking out for something suggests awaiting a change, living in uncertainty. Exercises in Looking from a Distance is a form of anti‑action, or a collective “anti‑action”, which the artist invited inhabitants of Ustka, beach visitors, gallery workers and tourists to take part in.

The exercises, conducted during the summer season in a seaside resort, contrarily draw attention to the very common inability to relax, the incessant compulsion to act, the worry and anxiety. In Nowy Port, Exercises in Looking from a Distance smuggles a fragment of the seascape into urban space, separated from the water. The line of the horizon, visible in the film, marks the horizon of one’s needs but also creates space for imagination. The streamed frame points to what is within reach and beyond; it challenges limitations and creates an active zone for the flow of energy and potential.

The film Exercises in Looking from a Distance was made by Monika Drożyńska as part of her collaboration with the Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Słupsk. Project curator: Przemysław Chodań.

Monika Drożyńska (b. 1979) – an artist and designer, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Clothes design, embroidery and, broadly speaking, work with textiles, which she often combines with social actions and installations in public space. She is a cultural activist and lecturer and runs educational workshops. She says that she makes places and brings people together. She has worked closely with  Zachęta the National Art Gallery in Warsaw, the Museum of Modern Art in Wrocław, the Łaźnia Centre of Contemporary Art in Gdańsk and Museum Quartier in Vienna.