Enter the depths of the Earth
Innovative Artistic Statement on the History and Culture of Industry. The installation aims to showcase outstanding artistic perspectives and engage in the discussion about a world where physical labor has traditionally defined not only people’s life paths but also their relationship with nature.
Design: musk kolektyw
Client: Ars Cameralis
Location: Katowice, Walcownia Cynku w Szopniencach
Project: June 2013
Photos: Radek Kaźmierczak
Courator: Stephan Stroux
“The Memory of Work” seeks to address several fundamental questions: What are the possibilities for functioning in a time when the ideology of work is no longer a central issue? Why are former industrial production sites being turned into shopping centers, despite the fact that many people are still unemployed? What possibilities and questions arise when transforming these sites into cultural venues? How should we deal with the remnants of damaged, if not polluted, land?
The exhibition is designed as thirteen stations that visitors must pass through in the area of the former zinc smelter in Szopienice. The final and most important station is the main hall of the smelter, which features the largest concentration of works from invited artists. The project includes contributions from artists such as Sławomir Rumiak, Andrzej Tobis, Wilhelm Sasnal, Arkadiusz Gola, Wojciech Kucharczyk, Stephan Stroux, Thomas Voßbeck, Anke Illing, Eddie Egal, Bastiaan Maris, Jens Hikel, Piotr Wójcik, as well as artists from the naive art movement, including Erwin Sówka, Paweł Wróbel, Teofil Ociepka, and others.
