LOST TALKS_WARSAW interdisciplinary seminars are closely related to the specific works of Katarzyna Kozyra. The selected work is an introduction to a longer discussion of the diverse artistic and sociological aspects of the reality presented in it. Due to the variety of guests invited to the meetings, the topics discussed may extend to other areas of science.
Language of the podcasts is Polish.
I: OLYMPIA
The 1st Seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “Olympia” took place on March 8, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation.
The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Aleksandra Kania, Mira Marcinów, Agnieszka Morawińska, Maria Poprzęcka, Anda Rottenberg, Kamil Sipowicz and Katarzyna Kozyra.
Is Katarzyna Kozyra’s Olympia another visualisation of the naked women’s body or maybe a new perspective in which female nudity (already having been undermined by Manet) is being deconstructed and decoded? What is the connection between nude paintings of Titian, Manet, Carolee Schneemann and Kozyra? Are there any? Or are there only differences? How do those artists expose a problem of the relationship between an artist and a model? Is empowering and recognition of the body still a quest for painters or rather an assignment for women as artists and models?
II: PUNISHMENT AND CRIME
The 2nd seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “Punishment and Crime” took place on March 22, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation.
The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Katarzyna Kozyra, Mira Marcinów, Michał Mierzejewski, Agnieszka Morawińska and Agata Ostrowska.
In “Punishment and Crime” Katarzyna Kozyra created a case study of military obsession, which anticipated the discussion about gun rights. Did Kozyra foresee the contemporary fascination with violence? Can grotesque and masquerade overcome terror and the threat of explosions? Could we imagine warming centres, shelters and refugees camps instead of shacks and ruins? How did it happen that seemingly harmless military fascination evolves into the myth of homeland defence? Somehow, imperceptibly for the society, glorifying the myth of young war participants has changed to worshipping the whole act of military aggression. Public tacit consent allowed establishing a systemic opportunity to develop anger towards the mystic Other and engage in warfare.
However, isn’t an idea of an outsider transforming into a guiding principle of our online reality? The internet community becomes an anarchic and transgressive tribe, which has been foreseen by many before – Marquis de Sade, Stirner or Dostoyevsky. Kozyra’s video presents the world in which individuality eradicates the ideal of real social bonds and establishes a safe online space for contemporary Demons and Conspirators.
III: LOOKING FOR JESUS
The 3rd seminar of the cycle LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “Looking for Jesus” took place on April 3, 2019, in the Cinema Paradox, Krakow. The off-site seminar session was preceded by a screening of the Katarzyna Kozyra’s movie “Looking for Jesus” organized by the Institut of Religious Studies, Jagiellonian University.
The movie was an introduction to the discussion with Katarzyna Kozyra, Sonia Roszczuk, Zbigniew Pasek, Natalia Zawiejska and Andrzej Wajs.
What is Jerusalem syndrome?
Is it a psychosis-like experience, a mental phenomenon, a symptom of religious exaltation or a manifestation of the power of the place, which unites three major religions and its many mutations? Or maybe something else – a search for identity?
The protagonists of Kozyra’s movie believe in incarnated Christ and soul salvation suspended by the Divine judgement. They believe that Jesus Christ is real, that he was resurrected and that he is alive. However, they do not seem to be aware of how their perspective is getting lost in religious kitsch. They project imaginative Christ’s identity on themselves by the affirmation of the visual stereotype. Is Allaro’s demand for the revision of Jesus of Nazareth trial a fantasy of an orthodox Jew or a need for reexamination the role of Jesus as a revolutionary legislator and Messiah, who needs to be reclaimed for Israel?
IV: LOU SALOME
The 4th Seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “Lou Salome” took place on July 6, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation.
The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Mira Marcinów, Maria Poprzęckiej, Iwona Kościelecka, Marek Zaliwski and Katarzyna Kozyra.
In 2019 the director of the National Museum in Warsaw had censored the Gallery of 20th and 21th Century Art by removing two works from the collection. Discarding Natalia LL’s installation had reverberated causing widespread protests in social media. Censoring “Lou Salome” by Katarzyna Kozyra however, did not induce such indignation. In her work Kozyra dressed in black, with a whip in her hand, walks two dogs resembling Nietzsche and Rilke.
Is female domination still perceived as perverse? Why is it common to warn men of deceitful seductive women just as in the Tale of Phyllis and Aristotle while simultaneously the medieval myth of revelation in theological works bears an obvious mark of erotic bliss. In her works, Katarzyna Kozyra often initiates a discussion about sexuality and gender. Decoding and undermining its assigned qualities. Deconstruction of the traditional approach towards women – as of wives, mistresses or muses, in the background of men – enables empowering and recognition of the previously lost subjectivity? Does it validate an old-new perspective of sexuality captivated apart from procreation?
V: BATHHOUSES
The 5th seminar of the series “LOST TALKS_Warsaw” – “Bathhouses” took place on July 10, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation. The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Iwona Kościelecka, Hanna Wróblewska, Mira Marcinów, Kamil Sipowicz and Katarzyna Kozyra.
In 1997 Katarzyna Kozyra created a project “Bathhouse” which was followed by the second part – “Men bathhouse” – showed at the 48th Venice Biennial in 1999, where Kozyra was representing Poland. Both installations consist of videos filmed with a hidden camera in the public bathhouses. In the first project, Kozyra displays women from a female perspective. When we watch a video we see the entity of art history – Rubenesque, Dürerian shapes. Did Kozyra manage to catch the female world freed from the dominance of men’s gaze? Is female bathhouse a place free from sexuality? Andrzej Wajs recalls Husserlian distinction between the sensing and moving body – Leib in contrast to the mere extended body – Körper. Can Leib only be embodied by women? Do men lack the ability to feel their bodies? In the bathhouse do men put on a disguise of a naked body? What is the difference between men bathhouse and women bathhouse? Between men and women?
How adopting another gender affect the artist? Why was it unpleasant for Kozyra to play a part of a man? Was that mere angst connected to breaking out of the social role assigned to a woman?
VI: THE RITE OF SPRING
The 6th seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “The Rite of Spring” took place on September 18, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation. The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Maria Poprzęcka, Andrzej Leder, Mira Marcinów, Hanna Wróblewska, Kamil Sipowicz and Agnieszka Szczotka.
“The Rite of Spring” by Katarzyna Kozyra is an attempt of recreating the Stravinsky’s ballet choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Primarily, Katarzyna Kozyra wanted to recreate the ballet with professional dancers, which, however, turned out to be impossible because of the complexity of the choreography. Having that in mind, the artist chose to virtually use the bodies, casting, paradoxically, elderly people. Kozyra photographed the elderly subjects lying on the ground in dance positions and animated their movements – each second of the video is made of 24 photographs. Limited possibilities of the bodies were overcome by Kozyra and her assistants, who provided them with a desirable form. What is the connection between Kozyra’s work and the scandalous reception of original ballet? Kozyra revived bodies, that were on an edge of death. For life to continue, it is necessary to make a sacrifice. What is the sacrifice in her work? Is it a sacrifice to force the elder people to go on living? Or is it another way around – is it a privilege? Is Kozyra granting an elder body with a status of entity and subjectivity? Is the body in Kozyra’s work a form of a disguise? What would happen if the gender roles were reversed? Why is the sacrificial victim female? Does it matter?
VII: IN ART DREAMS COME TRUE. PART 1
The 7th seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “In Art Dreams Come True. Part 1” took place on October 18, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation. The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Katarzyna Kozyra, Mira Marcinów, Iwona Kościelecka, Weronika Wysocka, Agnieszka Morawińska, Hanna Wróblewska and Aleksandra Kania.
Has Katarzyna Kozyra in “In Art Dreams Come True” anticipated Instagram? “In Art Dreams Come True” is a record of Kozyra creating herself from scratch. The artist is deconstructing her ego and experimenting with options (which seem to be unachievable for her at first) and different identities. Kozyra shows her dreams and how she has to cross her boundaries. What is the relation between the body and the culture? Is the artist the main subject of her performances?
VIII: IN ART DREAMS COME TRUE. PART 2
https://youtu.be/yRJ9A_fxypU
The 8th seminar of the series LOST TALKS_Warsaw – “In Art Dreams Come True part 2” took place on November 8, 2019, in Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation. The seminar was conducted by Andrzej Wajs with the participation of Katarzyna Kozyra, Karol Radziszewski, Iwona Kościelecka, Kamil Sipowicz, Weronika Wysocka and Agnieszka Morawińska.
Has Katarzyna Kozyra in “In Art Dreams Come True” anticipated Instagram? Is Kozyra an influencer? Is her work critical art? Or is critical art dead? In every form of activity, there are some recurring motives – does it imply that everything has already happened? New media’s development grants us with a completely different way of experiencing art. Does it limit or on the contrary, expand institutional forms of art? Is Kozyra balancing between outside and inside?