Słodowy Remixed will take a critical look at Adam Słodowy’s legacy as well as serve to refresh it for younger generations. Adam Słodowy is a legendary Polish inventor, who strove to popularise the ‘do it yourself’ approach in Poland. He hosted the well-known TV programme Zrób to Sam (editor’s translation: Do It Yourself) he also authored the script for the animated series Pomysłowy Dobromir with Roman Huszczo. In addition to his TV work, Słodowy also published books on DIY and the automotive industry. The project will question the new meanings and consequences of his DIY approach in the face of political and economic transformations.
At a time when Poland was under the communist regime, Słodowy’s ideas and inventions helped endure the constant lack of basic goods. Paradoxically, the approach propagated by Słodowy gradually became the dominant model in the capitalist system. We live in an age of compulsory creativity. On the one hand, it is a requirement for functioning in the job market nowadays, on the other – it is the basis of the process of building identity through consumption.
Innovation became the key to success in knowledge network-driven capitalist economy and a creative approach to various spheres of activity, an element of constructing distinction and creating hierarchy in everyday life. Fashion, interior design, food, even planning our free-time require active choices and creativity.
The first part of the presentation in Copenhagen will involve a short retrospective of Słodowy’s work. Approximately twenty of his most interesting projects are going to be recreated, his written works and fragments of the TV programmes he hosted are also going to be shown. The presentation will involve modular shelving systems, which will contain objects, books and video content.
The second part of the presentation will be made up of an artistic project selected through an open call: a critical reinterpretation of Słodowy’s work by means of modern media and technology. The call will be addressed to various groups – visual artists, designers, DIY hobbyists and makers. The projects can be films, objects, interventions or websites. The sole restriction when it comes to the form of the projects has to do with practical issues stemming from the limited possibilities of presenting them in the physical space in Copenhagen.
Copenhagen Maker is a creative fair in Copenhagen, which exhibits new trends and innovations in technology, crafts and design each year. Over the last ten years, the creative fair has proven to be an innovative event bringing together creators, consumers, business, and community organisations from all over the world.
The event is organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, under its flagship brand Culture.pl
Source: press materials, compiled by NS, translated by AP, 14 Jun 2017