Piotr Krzymowski, a London-based multi-disciplinary artist, has been extensively investigating our connection with the immediate surroundings. The artist is well-known for examining key aspects of the modern world critically: from artificial intelligence and smartphone dependency to people’s interactions with the natural environment and deceptively mundane everyday objects. Major Incident, Piotr’s solo show that has just opened at PROJECT Thirteen in London, explores the fragile relationship between the planet’s future, our daily consumption and responsibility to act now to avert the climate catastrophe.
The exhibition is the artist’s immediate response to the Covid-19-related waste that has been increasingly discarded on the streets of London. Major Incident presents uncanny, large-scale installations that critically approach the issue of mass-produced plastic PPE and meaningfully engage with excessive and thoughtless consumption that adversely affects the natural environment. Marta Marsicka and Dimitrios Tsivrikos, the show curators, discuss Piotr’s inspirations, long-term sustainability, and the role that art projects play in promoting environmental awareness and eco-friendly habits.
Marek Wolynski: Major Incident was developed in direct response to the recent events and ongoing global issues: the Covid-19 pandemic and excessive consumerism. What was the process of working on the exhibition like from the curatorial point of view?
Marta Marsicka: The process was very peculiar – as we couldn’t really meet in person, the whole planning process was happening over Zoom and through online communication. And it requires an approach which is double in nature. On the one hand, you need to be strict and organised, as Zoom is not the most pleasant way to brainstorm or exchange creative ideas. But on the other hand, considering everything that is happening in the world, you need to show patience, care, and kindness to yourself, the team you work with, and to the material you are trying to present, describe, and showcase. It was a tough lesson, knowing that you couldn’t really see the work you cared about, and everything you were left with was the screen of your device. The necessary element is trust. I believe everything actually fell into place because we knew what we wanted to show, how we wanted to present it, and we trusted ourselves and in the artwork as well.
Dimitrios Tsivrikos: I’d agree with Marta. That was one of the most challenging briefs that I have ever encountered. The true challenges were not being able to work as a team, physically that is, or visit the space. I feel working under such conditions deprived us of the ability to connect, research, and create a team, but again it has highlighted the very purpose of the show. I think this “deprivation” state we have entered, assisted us in exploring and deepening our connection with the works and their discourse. I feel this sense of deprivation was so deep and meaningful, it allowed us to curate the space in a manner that maintains its authenticity, and it created a platform for both the artist and our audience to connect with the works.
MW: Piotr uses the perspective of an artist-activist to look at the current health and environmental crises. This approach situates Major Incident among the artist’s other works, which often enter the narratives of sustainability and consumerism. At the same time, the show resonates with art history and deficiencies of the established systems.
MM: Yes, what’s special to me about Piotr’s show is that it juxtaposes very contemporary messages of the global pandemic and ecological crisis, which are so needed at this very moment with imagery associated with quite traditional ways of learning about the world. I’m talking about the context of Cabinets of curiosities or the globe. Those are not good enough anymore because as tools they are completely useless… And that’s why Major Incident is so interesting, for it can be seen, analysed and felt through so many layers. It is a great and organic continuation of Piotr’s practice at the same time.
DT: I’m incredibly proud to be a part of this as I feel that the works and the artist are engaging in both artistic expression and knowledge creation. I believe the very purpose of this show is so multidimensional and yet poignant. It will allow its audience to translate it into their terms in a very democratic manner. We have spent a great time with Piotr and Marta analysing and reviewing the works through a very different lens than one typically has at their disposal, such as activism. However, this show has been put together elegantly paying tribute to the fragile connections between our own experience with the themes that the works explore as well as our role as curators. I feel everyone will be able to connect with them on more than one level. And in my experience, this makes a great show and an exceptional artist.
Hungry for more?MW: The show has been arranged as a journey that starts outside the actual exhibition space. Even passers-by can notice plastic bottles filled with discarded face masks in the front window (deceptively resembling bottles with water from a distance). What do you want visitors to feel?
MM: It’s about showing the problem of how the environmental crisis is related to the Covid-19 pandemic from a very engaging and witty point of view. Again, the pandemic is a very sensitive topic, so it’s very important to say that it had and still has a tremendous effect on people’s private lives and economic systems, and almost everyone has lost something over the past months. We are highlighting the problem from another perspective, showcasing the issue that hasn’t been discussed broadly enough yet. It’s not about educating, nor ‘showing the right way’ – it’s about getting people to think, ‘Oh! I haven’t thought about it that way before.’
DT: The pandemic and the environmental crisis have affected us in more than one way. So we felt that by using different spaces we can create a very different experience for our audience. While there is no linear relationship, curatorial speaking, the works do, indeed, create a wonderful storyline that our audience will both relate to and connect with authentic manner. The works and their execution are raw and realistic; they do not sugar-coat the situation and by no means hold back from the very urgency of it. The multidimensional rooms will allow people to control their sensory stimulation and experience with ease.
MW: We are on the verge of climate catastrophe. The planet is yelling for help. Yet, people tend to disregard the urgency to act. Why is that? Do you think that art projects can encourage eco-friendly behaviour?
MM: The tradition of art pushing for social change is very deeply rooted in the 20th-century history of art, especially in the avant-garde art tradition, where creatives saw themselves as those who lead the world on the way to something bigger or something better. Art definitely has the potential to change people’s behaviour towards being more eco-friendly. But the problem lies not exactly in people and their habits, but in something which is much more difficult to change – big capital and those who steer the manufacturing of certain products or services. To be eco-friendly is a privilege, and we can’t put the responsibility of making sustainable decisions just on people without realising that sometimes it’s the only option possible.
DT: Indeed, moving people to act is a very tricky business. This very exercise and show won’t be the panacea to our global and environmental challenges. Having said that, we strongly feel that we can start the debate so that our visitors can review the situation from another perspective. The one that is gentler and kinder, rather than the almost dictatorial rhetoric that at times has been used by various campaigns but end up only scaring people instead of inspiring them. We feel we will create a platform to debate, think, and ultimately act in a gentler, kinder, yet more honest manner. I suppose that is one of the wonders which working with art can offer us.
MW: The artist skilfully addressed some of the most pressing environmental and social issues while adding humorous and ironic quality to the show. Can humour reinforce the message and ultimately contribute to promoting environmental awareness?
MM: Absolutely! Humour is a very powerful tool and what makes it even more powerful in the context of Piotr’s exhibition is its witty and sarcastic character. Again, it brings back the memories of the Dada movement, where the need for social commentary mixed with ironic humour was one of the pillars present in many artists’ practices. It’s important to say that the global pandemic or environmental crises are not funny. But humour can be one of the ways of coping with something traumatic and scary. Again, we have seen it before,for example, in the medieval Danse Macabre, where skeletons join people on their last dance. It’s humour and irony that make you stop and think.
DT: Humour and lightness are great weapons when it comes to behavioural action and debate. I feel that as citizens we are aware of the global crisis, but we are often made to feel helpless and scared about the very challenge that we have to face. The show does use a light approach that is honest and yet relatable. We believe this approach will be more meaningful, honest, and, indeed, powerful.
