Paweł Althamer
“Common Task”
Almost since the beginning of his artistic career, the works of Paweł Althamer circle around the opposite poles of the figural sculpture and collective activities engaging other people in the creative process. By inviting various social groups to co-operation the artist asks a question concerning the status and position of the author, which is so characteristic of the last decade. He creates a framework and a proposal whereby the invited participants define their own identity.
Within the “Common Task” project, Althamer tests various forms of perception of the reality and interpersonal communication. The participants, i.e. the neighbours of the artist appear in various places in extraordinary golden uniforms. “Common Task” is a meeting and integration place of various social groups and people whose everyday realities do not merge in any way and who are often excluded from the social and cultural rites.
The joint activities are aimed to cross not only the mental but also the physical barriers; in addition to the meetings which are set in everyday reality, the participants also set out on peculiar journeys offering them new possibilities and unusual experiences. The residents of the communal socialist block of flats traveled to see the radical edition of the modernistic architectural and social vision whose embodiment is Brasilia. They will also visit the country of Dogons in Mali. On the 4th of June 2009 over 150 participants of the project arrived in Brussels on a golden Boeing 737 designed by the artist.
The “Common Task” project was performed in Brussels to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 1989′s first democratic voting in Poland and fall of the communism in Central Europe.
Commissioned and produced by Open Art Projects.
Partners:
The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, The European Solidarity Centre, The National Centre of Culture, Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom, Service Culturel Ambassade de Pologne en Belgique, LOT Polish Airlines.
