This initiative marks yet another occasion wherein Ewa Bochen and Maciej Jelski explore myths, fantasies and rituals rooted in the historic past of Poland and pertinent to its changing present. The designers explore this treasure trove giving their discovered artefacts new life, frequently with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a playful stance.
Their Collective Unconscious is an exhibition of contemporary design. The project was previously featured at the 2013 edition of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Europe's largest and most prestigious industrial design trade fair. There, Collective Unconscious was part of the special POLISH INNOVATION IN MILAN series produced by the Adam Mickiewicz Institue. The title of the endevour refers to that part of the human psyche that gets formed under the influence of experiences repeated across generations. In Stockholm, the project is part of the Furniture and Light Fair of the Design Week, where it will be presented in the Greenhouse section.
Kosmos Project drew inspiration for this exhibit from the old heritage of Poland. It is a heritage that the authors feel is getting largely forgotten, and one that remains somehow in our unconscious in a way that is more intuitive rather than recognised. Hence the artists’ attempt at a recognition of this national heritage and their own roots. The designers' vision is also evocative of the dream to reunite with nature, and to reflect the changing surroundings and seasons of the year. Kosmos decided to concentrate on the most characteristic pagan rituals of the Slavic tradition, namely the Noc Kupały (Kupała’s Night) and Dziady – translated into English as the Forefather’s Eve ever since Adam Mickiewicz’s iconic Romantic drama. The two designers seeked to evoke the atmosphere, energy and incredible power of ritual in the objects they created. Kosmos Project thus add to the recurring trend of evoking old pagan heritage, that spans across various genres, often in very contrasting ways. To find out more about a nostalgia for the Slavic in music, see Filip Lech's article for culture.pl, Slavs Are Us (?)…
The items they designed are made either entirely or partially out of steel. This is the case with their masks, a table with a bio-fire place, a chandelier and candleholders. There are also object made with traditional materials, such as a woolen kilim, wicker stools, straw vases and their famous glass wine canter, called The Heart.
The designers who are also curators of their own exhibit comment in a note about the show:
The collective unconscious has been shaped throughout the evolution of mankind, under the influence of experiences repeated in many generations. Inherited from the ancestors in the form of an instinctual and archetypal unconscious, it expresses itself in myths, art, religious ceremony, customs, dreams and also in liminal experiences, such as mystic states and paranormal activities. It is a phenomenon shared by all cultures, but in spite of the repetitive archetypes, in different countries and in different cultures, every nation has its own, particular character. And it is to the Polish particularity that we devoted our project.
A different occasion wherein Bochen and Jelski drew on collectively referred to symbols was their much commented design of a Radio (2009). The titulary item is a receiver in the shape of a wooden cross that is turned on with a handclap. Kosmos Project’s design was considered blasphemous by many, though it was conceived as a comment on the power of media and on the loneliness of individuals in contemporary society. The design team says that the work was inspired by the Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja. "We were impressed by the strength of this medium", they said in an interview with the Wysokie Obcasy weekly, "and we discovered that people have a very strong need to be a part of a community."