Between 2004-2007, Krzysztof Kaczmarek studied navigation at the Gdynia Maritime University. Later, between 2006-2009, he attended the Graphic Design Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, while in 2009-2011, he went to Vienna’s Akademie der Bildenden Künste. He is the co-founder of the Artpol Gallery based in Kraków. Kaczmarek works across various media, but is mostly interested in the medium of film, especially documentary. He lives and works in Warsaw, and is represented by the Dawid Radziszewski Gallery.
Experiments with film
Krzysztof Kaczmarek works somewhat off the mainstream of the art scene. He normally takes 2-3 years to complete his movie projects, which he finances from his own pocket. In 2006, he realized the film Aleksandria (DVD, 9’ 2’’), which touched on the subjects of memory and death. It was filmed in the author’s grandmother’s house near Częstochowa, which was intended for demolition. Kaczmarek asked his brother-in-law to tell the life story of his deceased grandmother while walking around her home’s interior. The extremely personal narrative was told by someone who had never met the film’s protagonist. Subsequently, the artist removed almost the entire visual content of the video, leaving only a black screen and occasional vague views of the rooms’ interiors. The soundtrack, which was sourced from an amateur film made by the brother-in-law, played a significant role here.