Dominik Lejman presented the final chapter in the three-part Fossils and Gardens project in Brussels
Over the past two months leading Polish artists Julita Wójcik, Maurycy Gomulicki and Dominik Lejman have created three separate installations in the public space of Brussels. The overall aim was to create separate narratives which all ultimately related to the notion of a united Europe and drew on common traditions. Following Wójcik's "Rainbow", which crowns the courtyard of the European Parliament, and Gomulicki's "Romantic Post-Vandalism" in the defunct headquarters of the La Cite Administrative de l'Etat, Lejman launched his "Double Layer" in the lobby space of the European Parliament building.
Light images of walking people were projected onto the floor of the European Parliament building. Its subjects are passers-by whose images have been recorded by CCTV cameras in several European capitals. The artist transposes and superimposes images which have been dispersed, creating new encounters and situations. Visitors who walk through the lobby also become part of this visual fresco and move within it. Dominik Lejman’s work is a very subtle intervention in the interior of a government building and a poetic statement on individuality and collectivism.
"Double Layer" is an ephemeral work, not only because the image disappears as soon as power supply is cut off, but also by virtue of its site-specific character. The work has been conceived for a specific space, where it appears temporarily to impact the everyday appearance and workings of this particular place, filling it with projections of individuals all over Europe, who are ultimately affected by the goings-on in this significant public building. As the project is part of the international cultural programme of the Polish Presidency 2011, the artist operates in the heart of the European Union. The artist’s gesture introduces ordinary people into this space: they walk, rush, carry on with their everyday problems in a generally sober, bureaucratic space. These projections represent the human element of political action.
Dominik Lejman was born on the 5th of March, 1969 in Gdańsk. He combines painting with video projections, creates video murals and large-scale photo-wallpaper murals. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Faculty of Painting and Prints, and at the Royal College of Art in London in 1993-1995 (his diploma work received an award from Christie's). Lejman has received many Polish and international awards including the Passport prize from the Polityka weekly in 2001. He has been the recipient of scholarships from the RCA, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Location 1 in New York, the Polish Ministry of Culture.
"Double Layer" was part of the Fossils and Gardens project in the Belgian capital. Lejman's project was offocially inaugurated at 3:00 pm on the 29th of November.
Curator: Monika Szewczyk
Date: 28th of November - 2nd of December, 2012
Venue: Lobby of the European Parliament (Altiero Spinelli building)
Organisers: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Cultural Institute in Brussels
Coordinator: Omgeving.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute