Join us for two free screenings that explore the links between rave culture and contemporary art in Poland in the 1990s. The title is a reference to the number of beats per minute in classic techno music. Techno was a key motif of the raves and underground dance events which took hold in Poland alongside the transformation in the political and economic system in the early 1990s. On one hand, raves were an expression of the optimism of this period of transformation. On the other hand, they manifested the anxieties of those times of social and technological acceleration.
Rave culture engaged many visual artists fascinated by how the community came together in reaction to the privatisation of society. It was a new subculture that showed strong interest in the visual register, as the hippies had before them. Images were as important for them as dance and music. It was the first time that dance parties became an equally important medium for visual artists. Galleries became dance clubs, and exhibitions turned into rave parties.
140 Beats Per Minute focuses on the role of rave in relation to the pop tendency of Polish art in the 1990s. In opposition to other movements, artists creating this trend looked for more inclusive ways of building communities through art.
Please note that both screenings contain flashing lights.
This programme is curated by Łukasz Mojsak, Zofia Krawiec, Łukasz Ronduda, and presented in partnership with Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.
Programme:
19.00 – 20.00
Curatorial introduction
Wilhelm Sasnal, Pile, Poland 1997, 8 mm transferred to digital video, black and white, sound, 3 min
CUKT, Wiktoria Cukt Presidential Campaign, Poland 2001, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 28 min (9 min excerpt shown)
CUKT, Cyborg Test (Test na cyborga), 1996, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, silent, 7 min (2 min excerpt shown)
Piotr Wyrzykowski, Forts (Forty), Poland 1996, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 3 min
Dorota Jurczak, Legs, Poland 1999, VHS transferred to digital video, black and white, sound, 3 min
Najakotiva, documentation of works from 1994–1999, Poland 1999, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 16 min (6 min excerpt shown)
Paulus Mazur, Twins, Poland 1993–5, Amiga Deluxe Paint animation transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 10 min
20.30 – 21.00
Józef Robakowski, Impulsators (Impulsatory), Poland 1999, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 3 min
Neurobot, Normal Subjects, Poland 1998, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 3 min
Agnieszka Tarasiuk, S.L.L., Poland 1999, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, silent, 12 min (6 min excerpt shown)
Marcelo Zammenhoff, Address for the Year 1999 (Orędzie na rok 1999), Poland 1998–9, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 6 min
Gregor Różański, Steelworks 2000 (Huta 2000), Poland 2016, VHS transferred to digital video, colour, sound, 20 min
Q&A with artist Gregor Różański