Joanna Rajkowska
Soon Everything Will Change
Saturday 31 May – Monday 23 June 2014
Erdington Library Patio, Orphanage Rd, Birmingham, B24 9HP
Project Launch: Saturday 31 May, 12pm – 2pm
PEA presents a new work Soon Everything Will Change by internationally acclaimed artist Joanna Rajkowska. Based in London, Rajkowska has achieved recognition for her public art commissions which have previously included Forcing a Miracle, displayed in London as part of Frieze Projects 2012. Soon Everything Will Change is her new temporary public project inaugurated in Erdington, Birmingham, from Saturday 31 May until Monday 23 June.
The work comprises a large crystal formation that will be installed in the patio area near Erdington Library. The crystal originates from Brazil, a place recently visited by the artist. Fascinated by the country’s fusion of different kinds of beliefs, spiritual orders and rituals she has decided to bring a large Brazilian crystal to Erdington to establish a temporary chakra there. The meaning of chakra is twisted in this project – a spiritual centre in the human body, also understood as a point of high energy in the organism of the city. Rajkowska is devising a site to subtly affect human bodies, suspend logic and introduce new social rituals, themes she has previously explored within her practice. The title of the work Soon Everything Will Change comes from the notion of an impending crisis with a strong and unsettling sense of transition. “Climate change happens alongside the melting of belief in the rationale of the Enlightenment legacy of European culture. These changes are happening globally and cross-culturally. What we need more than anything is a wonder, a supernatural phenomenon” says Rajkowska.
Soon Everything Will Change is not a site-specific installation but rather a travelling, global device – a mobile chakra. Installed in the public space, it will discreetly glow for everyone. Aside from the function intended by the artist, the public will invent their own reason for its presence. Its ambiguous status as a ‘jewel’, healing object, street wonder and above all a sculpture questions the pragmatic definition of public art. It is an object that disarms, shifts our imaginations and mesmerises our perception and perhaps really will become a chakra, a focus of energy for the district.
Rajkowska has recently undertaken several residencies in Erdington, during which she has learnt about the specificity of the district in order to determine the concept and nature of the work. The process has been documented on the PEA blog – www.publicarterdington.wordpress.com.
The project will launch with a performance by musicians from the Waste Paper Opera Company and accompanied by a publication The Alternative Guide to Erdington, comprising of a collection of stories that aim to reveal another face of this part of Birmingham. To complement the project, PEA is organising a series of events including an artist talk, photo walk, workshops and a mini seminar on public art. Details of which can be found on the PEA website –www.polishexpats.org.uk/news.
Soon Everything Will Change is part of Public Art Erdington, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and Polish Cultural Institute in London.
Ends.