ARTISTS
Janek Simon: People With The Heads of Dogs
Janek Simon鈥檚 many exotic trips over the past dozen years have served to develop his para-鈥媋rtistic endeavors, vested on the frin颅ges of economics, art and post-鈥媍olonial thought. As goods sub颅ject to his tur颅nover and re-鈥媏xport he inc颅luded even the products of national cul颅ture (鈥淵ear of Polish Cul颅ture in Madagascar鈥�, 2006; 鈥淣ol颅lywood Ashes and Diamonds鈥�, star颅ted in 2014). The exhibition 鈥淧eople with the Heads of Dogs鈥� is an offshoot of these ear颅lier experien颅ces, as it also inverts the per颅spec颅tive of the artist as observer. Simon鈥檚 main topic of interest shifts from inter颅cul颅tural exchange towards the sub颅jec颅tive observations of a researcher-鈥媡raveler: exploration, and con颅fabulation, too, of which the experien颅ces of recognized travelers, repor颅ters and artists are full of.
The exhibition features two main protagonists. The first is a man who goes by the pseudonym Seven, a Hindu man encoun颅tered by Simon in India durin a work颅shop in Auroville. The fruit of this acquain颅tance is a video recor颅ding of Seven鈥檚 as he animatedly recounts the impos颅sible twists and turns of his unusual life story: intimate relations with the English Queen, mur颅dering Olof Palme, co-鈥媎irecting Hitchcock鈥檚 鈥淭he Birds鈥�, along with other infamous stories from the previous cen颅tury, which he whole-鈥媓eartedly claims to have had a part in. Seven became a source of inspiration for the artist as he began to incor颅porate autobiographical themes in his work, together with analyses of how much fan颅tasy can be inscribed into the process of relaying and absor颅bing infor颅mation, in creating one鈥檚 iden颅tity and self-鈥媍reation.
The exhibition鈥檚 second main protagonist is the artist him颅self, Janek Simon. The props and artifacts he col颅lec颅ted are a mean颅dering, sen颅timen颅tal col颅lec颅tion. They inc颅lude objects that hold significance for the artist and his history, both in per颅sonal and profes颅sional terms. This col颅lec颅tion is shown along with the dog-鈥媓eaded people of the title 鈥� 3D-printed sculp颅tures inspired by the medieval illustrations accom颅panying the writings of Marco Polo, who described the coun颅try, which he claimed existed in Andaman Islands of mythical creatures known as cynocephalus 鈥� beasts that had also been described in ear颅lier cen颅turies by the likes of Pliny the Elder.
The same tech颅nique and material was used to stitch together a per颅sonal nar颅rative of Simon鈥檚 emotional and artistic life, made in the form of a relief based on the ornamen颅tal tapestries of Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Poland鈥檚 Pod颅lasie region and of West Africa. The artist, with his charac颅teristic fascination with inter颅lin颅ked, anec颅dotal stories, relays his own story using a par颅ticular visual code. At the same time, he creates one more autobiographical loop in refer颅ring to his very well-鈥媖nown first work, titled 鈥淐arpet Invaders鈥�.
The exhibition has its lyrical finish in the form of poems coded within Simon鈥檚 abs颅tract artistic com颅positions, writ颅ten in response to emotions spur颅red by the col颅lapse of sub颅sequent intimate relation颅ships. For the first time, his interest in economic, statistical and tech颅nological sys颅tems has been decidedly turned inwards, toward the artist him颅self. It turns out to be a charac颅teristic, critical gaze on the role of the artist as author who, in relaying his own observations, essen颅tially creates a fan颅ciful space for shel颅tering his own 鈥渟elf鈥�.
Janek Simon鈥檚 many exotic trips over the past dozen years have served to develop his para-鈥媋rtistic endeavors, vested on the frin颅ges of economics, art and post-鈥媍olonial thought. As goods sub颅ject to his tur颅nover and re-鈥媏xport he inc颅luded even the products of national cul颅ture (鈥淵ear of Polish Cul颅ture in Madagascar鈥�, 2006; 鈥淣ol颅lywood Ashes and Diamonds鈥�, star颅ted in 2014). The exhibition 鈥淧eople with the Heads of Dogs鈥� is an offshoot of these ear颅lier experien颅ces, as it also inverts the per颅spec颅tive of the artist as observer. Simon鈥檚 main topic of interest shifts from inter颅cul颅tural exchange towards the sub颅jec颅tive observations of a researcher-鈥媡raveler: exploration, and con颅fabulation, too, of which the experien颅ces of recognized travelers, repor颅ters and artists are full of.
The exhibition features two main protagonists. The first is a man who goes by the pseudonym Seven, a Hindu man encoun颅tered by Simon in India durin a work颅shop in Auroville. The fruit of this acquain颅tance is a video recor颅ding of Seven鈥檚 as he animatedly recounts the impos颅sible twists and turns of his unusual life story: intimate relations with the English Queen, mur颅dering Olof Palme, co-鈥媎irecting Hitchcock鈥檚 鈥淭he Birds鈥�, along with other infamous stories from the previous cen颅tury, which he whole-鈥媓eartedly claims to have had a part in. Seven became a source of inspiration for the artist as he began to incor颅porate autobiographical themes in his work, together with analyses of how much fan颅tasy can be inscribed into the process of relaying and absor颅bing infor颅mation, in creating one鈥檚 iden颅tity and self-鈥媍reation.
The exhibition鈥檚 second main protagonist is the artist him颅self, Janek Simon. The props and artifacts he col颅lec颅ted are a mean颅dering, sen颅timen颅tal col颅lec颅tion. They inc颅lude objects that hold significance for the artist and his history, both in per颅sonal and profes颅sional terms. This col颅lec颅tion is shown along with the dog-鈥媓eaded people of the title 鈥� 3D-printed sculp颅tures inspired by the medieval illustrations accom颅panying the writings of Marco Polo, who described the coun颅try, which he claimed existed in Andaman Islands of mythical creatures known as cynocephalus 鈥� beasts that had also been described in ear颅lier cen颅turies by the likes of Pliny the Elder.
The same tech颅nique and material was used to stitch together a per颅sonal nar颅rative of Simon鈥檚 emotional and artistic life, made in the form of a relief based on the ornamen颅tal tapestries of Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Poland鈥檚 Pod颅lasie region and of West Africa. The artist, with his charac颅teristic fascination with inter颅lin颅ked, anec颅dotal stories, relays his own story using a par颅ticular visual code. At the same time, he creates one more autobiographical loop in refer颅ring to his very well-鈥媖nown first work, titled 鈥淐arpet Invaders鈥�.
The exhibition has its lyrical finish in the form of poems coded within Simon鈥檚 abs颅tract artistic com颅positions, writ颅ten in response to emotions spur颅red by the col颅lapse of sub颅sequent intimate relation颅ships. For the first time, his interest in economic, statistical and tech颅nological sys颅tems has been decidedly turned inwards, toward the artist him颅self. It turns out to be a charac颅teristic, critical gaze on the role of the artist as author who, in relaying his own observations, essen颅tially creates a fan颅ciful space for shel颅tering his own 鈥渟elf鈥�.
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