Konrad Juściński: EXUO – svlečka
22. 11. - 19. 12. 2024
Curator: Lenka Sýkorová
Konrad Juściński aims to study processual spaces and explore non-verbal messages that combine new technologies with nature, blurring the boundaries of dematerialisation. His works deal with questions of "transcendence". In interpreting his work, we can speak of the thematisation of the boundaries between culture and nature, between a defined social space and the transience and disappearance inherent in natural phenomena. Furthermore, his work shows an interest in utopia and contingent situations in response to the constant openness of the phenomenon of curiosity and spontaneous reactions to everyday situations, making visible the non-verbal aspects of the human experience of the individual in society.
Konrad Juściński perceives life as a ritual of cyclicity in which biologically conditioned processes are constantly repeated. In his exploration of the inner and outer worlds, Konrad's work highlights the skin as a liminal phenomenon that separates what happens inside from what happens outside. Getting rid of something, or undressing and shedding the old, means transformation in order to open up to something new. Skin is thus understood as a social landscape and as a boundary between the subjective and the objective. The exhibited series Calm Wanderer, which the artist has been working on for many years, refers to the moment of fragility of natural forms, which teaches us patience and humility. Konrad uses the fragility of dandelion seeds, fascinating in their organic form, to create objects that serve as masks for performative actions, but are also autonomous works of art. They signify a process of growth, both physical and spiritual. The performative act itself is a processual exploration of the attempt to stop and make space for meditation. A deep rooting in the moment. Being in the here and now. The fragility of objects made from natural materials is a certain confrontation and transience that Konrad accepts as a natural property of this type of material. The second work on display is an object that demonstrates a flying mountain. The interactive object Monos generates a sequence of sounds that draw us into something imaginary and a kind of anomaly in which aspects of horizon, edge and point are explored.
Konrad Juściński is an established intermedia artist who graduated from the University of the Arts Poznan, where he received his PhD in 2014 at the Department of Sculpture and Spatial Activities. Since 2020 he has been head of the Sculpture Studio at the Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Zielona Góra, Poland. His work ranges from objects and spatial installations to performance and video art. He regularly exhibits not only in Poland, but also abroad, for example in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, France, Lithuania, Portugal, South Korea and Japan. He has a special relationship with Japan and regularly works there. He has received a research grant from Tokyo Arts & Space.
Lenka Sýkorová