Was Lech Walesa one of 4 agents refered to as Bolek by the Communist Security Service SB ?
Registration Number 12535
A Barbi leg buried beneath the centre spot of Polonia Bytom Football Stadium
A leg shaved with pink water
A Subbuteo pitch setup with the opening formations from the 1966 England Vs Germany World Cup Final
Stereotypes collide
The right-wing fans’ self-confidence is reflected in
the rise in popularity of “patriotic street wear”:
clothing brands with names such as “Red Is Bad”
(the “Red” apparently stands for communism) or
“Patoriots” (sic),
which combines love for the homeland with an enthusiasm for the art of rioting.
These brands specialise in tracksuits, caps and hoodies bearing patriotic slogans
and gruesome depictions of foreign occupations.
As the hairs of Bolek’s moustache collect upon the fragmented city and its trophies…
The lion slumbers while bird murmurations bring gusts of joy
Kronika Gallery , Bytom , Silesia , Poland
SEX | SUICIDE | SOCIALISM | SPIRIT AND STEREOTYPES
| Originally released into the city of Bytom , Poland in August 2019
Drawing on childhood memories of Cold War news to bring Lech Walesa’s moustache into the 21st Century for a new audience. The moustache has been digitised and prepared for mass distribution.
Print your own or cut out a friends: – – – > |
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List of works:
“why did the lion blush?”
Installation: Surveillance, Assemblage, Moving Image and Audio
Dimensions variable
Having Forged an alliance with local orphans a plan was hatched to move the Sleeping Lion of Bytom. Being well travelled it was clear that the lion would be alert to the slightest disturbance. The orphans sang sweet lullabies, shared dreams and whispered wishes into his ears. A rope was tied around his stone perch and with it the lion was dragged across the smallest of small distances.
The installation brings together threads from disparate narratives in which the historical, imaginary and contemporary status of identity is fought over. Stereotypes are overloaded and exposed for their ludicrously shallow foundations. The Silesian reality is clear to see in the scarified fragments of Bytom, its continually shifting ground and identities. Leeched dry, depleted by invasion and occupation, coated in the stark grey dust of its stolen wealth. This colonised land has a fragile tension.
The viewer is required to engage with a narrative of asynchronous frames. Not sequential linear time in cartographic space. Rather a freefall into a constellation of matter, time and absence.
The birds eye view has upgraded to digital mode, affording advance warning of any stirring.
The willing lion soon lay down;
They pared his claws, his teeth they filed.
So easily is love beguiled!
He looked like a dismantled town.
La Fontaine, The Lion In Love, Fables
Pollonia Bytom Trans Form
Toy plastic Barbi leg, Human leg, Pollonia Bytom Football Stadium, Subbuteo Set, Pink pigment, razor, Water, Glass, Looping moving image
16th September 2019
Under cover of darkness the stadium was entered. The centre point of the pitch located, and the leg buried.
28th November 2019
Moving image recorded of leg shaving on pitch.
Sea Saw Bytomka
Toy Saw, The Bytomka river
18th September 2019