Ania Nałęcka’s graphic design has a simple and dexterous way of exposing Sputnik’s most characteristic feature – a blend of collective, project-based thinking and the power of individual creative personas. In regards to editing, the book resembles a photographic cabinet of curiosities, and is situated somewhere between a box of family photographs, a collector’s folder, and a Chinese box filled with art surprises. The reference to the post-Duchampian notion of a valise-box as an artist’s portfolio and at the same time a collection of objects and images bordering on reality and fiction makes for an interesting strategy when used in a photographic project with documentary ambitions. This conceptual quality, apparent in the structure of the publication as well as individual photographic realisations, testifies to the artistic aspirations of the authors, but also makes Miejsce odległe all the more appealing and convincing. In contrast to the post-Romantic, monumental representations of the Vistula which served the old propaganda, a collection of less obvious and more insightful views of the abandoned, marginalised riverside landscape was created.
Looking from the Varsovian perspective, the project perfectly subscribed to the developing process of cultural revitalisation of the capital’s river banks, and, even though it was produced only a few years ago, nowadays, when visiting the riverside’s nightclubs, it's hard to recognise the dark and quiet sights visible on the pages of Miejsce odległe.
photographs: Jan Brykczyński, Michał Łukczak, Rafał Milach, Adam Pańczuk, Agnieszka Rayss
texts: Jacek Kopciński, Krzysztof Koehler, Dawid Bieńkowski, Zyta Rudzka, Krzysztof Rutkowski, Michał Walczak, and contributions from the photographers
graphic design: Ania Nałęcka
publisher: Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw
year of publication: 2012
volume: 197 pages in 7 booklets of varying formats
format: 30 x 24.5 x 3 cm
cover: cardboard box
print run: 1000
ISBN: 978-83-63610-99-9