BRUDAS / SLOB
woodcut installation, print on human skin, object, digital documentation
2016-2017
project awarded with the Professor Witold Skulicz Award 2018 in the International Print Triennial 2018 Kraków
The set of works that 'Brudas' (Eng. Slob) project is composed of comprises a sauna matrix, video installation and photographic documentation of the printing process. The woodcut material here are the walls, seats and backrests, in other words – all possible wooden surfaces of an old sauna. Surely, the choice of this particular space was influenced by my stay in Scandinavia, where the tradition of using the sauna is very well established. In the sauna, depending on the position taken by the model, parts of the matrix are printed on different body parts; they overlap and blur, this way forming fragmented fields of meanings and graphic forms. Application of the antonym of cleanliness and purification, which are traditionally represented by the sauna ritual, is meant to put stronger emphasis on the reversal of this place's original function. Instead of getting rid of the contamination and toxins from the body, 'using' the installation results in dirtying the skin with print. To a certain extent, people 'using' this sauna are also verbally attacked with the word Brudas - 'slob’. This aggression evolves further into physical interference. It appears on different parts of their bodies, takes different forms, sometimes leaving its signs only partially. When this happens, the word 'slob' turns into 'dirt' (in Polish, slob – brudas, dirt – brud). When a nude person would appear in the space of the matrix, one could read embarrassment and constraint from their body language. Afterwards the models stated, that prints appearing on their skin were giving them a sense of being dressed, their nakedness being covered, and consequently, a sense of relief. Again, this observation is connected with the traditional purpose of sauna, which 'reduces aggression and is probably one of the reasons for its popularity in Scandinavia as a place to conduct business negotiations. When reaching an agreement is difficult, a visit in a heated cabin relieves tension. Apart from this, in the sauna an individual is devoid of any markers of status, and so external differences disappear.
The set of works that 'Brudas' (Eng. Slob) project is composed of comprises a sauna matrix, video installation and photographic documentation of the printing process. The woodcut material here are the walls, seats and backrests, in other words – all possible wooden surfaces of an old sauna. Surely, the choice of this particular space was influenced by my stay in Scandinavia, where the tradition of using the sauna is very well established. In the sauna, depending on the position taken by the model, parts of the matrix are printed on different body parts; they overlap and blur, this way forming fragmented fields of meanings and graphic forms. Application of the antonym of cleanliness and purification, which are traditionally represented by the sauna ritual, is meant to put stronger emphasis on the reversal of this place's original function. Instead of getting rid of the contamination and toxins from the body, 'using' the installation results in dirtying the skin with print. To a certain extent, people 'using' this sauna are also verbally attacked with the word Brudas - 'slob’. This aggression evolves further into physical interference. It appears on different parts of their bodies, takes different forms, sometimes leaving its signs only partially. When this happens, the word 'slob' turns into 'dirt' (in Polish, slob – brudas, dirt – brud). When a nude person would appear in the space of the matrix, one could read embarrassment and constraint from their body language. Afterwards the models stated, that prints appearing on their skin were giving them a sense of being dressed, their nakedness being covered, and consequently, a sense of relief. Again, this observation is connected with the traditional purpose of sauna, which 'reduces aggression and is probably one of the reasons for its popularity in Scandinavia as a place to conduct business negotiations. When reaching an agreement is difficult, a visit in a heated cabin relieves tension. Apart from this, in the sauna an individual is devoid of any markers of status, and so external differences disappear.