Plenery pod skrzydłami Wielkiego Przemysłu. Mity i próby ich wskrzeszenia

Abstract

The period of the People’s Republic of Poland [PRL] abounded in plein air events organised in industrial plants of all sizes across Poland. The most famous were the Biennial of Spatial Forms in Elbląg or the Symposium of Artists and Scientists in Puławy, whereas local initiatives included plein air events in: Hajnówka, Suchedniów, or Bolesławiec. This essay aims at presenting the programme postulates and course of selected events (in Elbląg and Hajnówka) in greater detail as well as the phenomenon of the return to plein air traditions by contemporary artists and people working in the culture sector (after 2000). After the systemic transformations, plein air events continue to be a significant form of artistic life, yet the events referred to are of a special nature, e.g. the 2007 plein air in Świecie, during which Artur Żmijewski embarked on an attempt at reviving a sculpture-dedicated plein air while retaining all realities of the PRL period, or Jarosław Perszko’s cooperation with the industrial plants in Hajnówka. In both cases, organisers reach beyond the concept of aesthetisation of the public space and creating complicated objects on the basis of the industrial plant’s material and service base. Their works are discursive in nature, leading to, among others, an in-depth reflection on the ethos and practice of labour.