Odnawianko

Operacja: Pokonać Przestrzeń / Operation: Conquer Space, 2015

intervention

Gustkowicz Square

In Poland, the Daewoo Lanos is associated with the time of political regime transformation; in spite of its low quality, the Korean car stood for an improved standard of living and an appearance of contemporaneity. The smoke coming out of the vehicle indicates a defect, which is magnified and shown off by colourful visual effects. The car is parked on the square, accompanied by stage smoke and special light effects that are reminiscent of decorative and entertainment installations in public spaces such as lit fountains, interactive monuments and hackneyed diversions for children. Plac Ks. Gutkowicza is a square that has been recently modernised in accordance with a blueprint from the European Union. The question arises whether new concepts in the design of shared public space take into account the actual needs of end users and whether they have any new aesthetic values to offer. In a contrarian manner, the artists comment on locally implemented revitalisation processes, which take the form of sporadic and skin‑deep projects. The artists demonstrate the dead point in the modernising schemes; the point where the desire to continue wilts, turning into simulated activity.

Odnawianko is the name of the practice founded in 2013 by Jakub de Barbaro and Janek Simon, which focuses on taking the mickey out of serious issues such as an uncle’s funeral, the degeneration of public space, the worthlessness of elites, the inevitability of death, the cat’s illness, having no money, the non‑existence of love and the dire aesthetic and ethical standard of Polish revitalising projects in recent years. The activities of the group are usually interventions in found situations in public space. Privately, group members are interested in coin melting and getting wasted as well as graphic design and conceptual art. In the late 2000s they were members of the Goldex Poldex art co‑op, and in even more ancient times, they organised clubbing events through the Commbo collective. They live and work in Warsaw.