The installation is Paweł Althamer's fifth consecutive project dedicated to the district of Bródno. The artist, recently announced as the recipient of the 2010 Aachen Art Prize, has chosen the building at 13 Krasnobrodzka Street as the site of his latest permanent installation.
The transformation of the 13 Krasnobrodzka Street staircase is the result of the ongoing collaboration of Paweł Althamer with his neighbours in the right-bank district. The interior of the building has been redesigned as a spaceship. The concept is the sequel to the science-fiction inspired project Wspólna sprawa / Common Matter, which had its participants dressed in golden clothing engaged in distant voyages, exploring unknown realities. This new venture is also related to Althamer's previous works such as Astronauta / The Astronaut, in which the artist was observing and analysing his environment through the eyes of a visitor from another planet.
In 1997, the exhibition hosted by the A.R. Gallery and the Tęcza Cinema presented objects created via the spontaneous participation of the quarter's residents, while in 2000, the artist involved his neighbours into the creation of a custom neon 2000 sign on the exterior side of the building, as its residents turned the lights off or on in their apartments. Three years later, on the occasion of an exhibition at the Zacheta Gallery, Althamer devoted a part of the budget on the renovation of one of Brodno's playgrounds. In 2009, Park Bródnowski as the set of his project Raj / Paradise.
Born 1963 in Warsaw, Paweł Althamer is known for his critical view on existing structures and systems. He questions and subverts them, often using these as a playground to explore alternative behavioural patterns. His projects are critical of institutions and show a great deal of social commitment, often for people who would otherwise not be heard such as homeless, prisoners, migrants, youths without perspective and children. For them and with them, he creates microcosms that realise the big "project", the interrelation of art and life. Althamer was recently announced as the recipient of the biannual Aachen Art Prize for 2010.
Architectural concept: Jakub Szczęsny (Centrala).
Implementation: Open Art Projects.
The installation was inaugurated on December 4, 2010 within the residential building at 13 Krasnobrodzka Street, Bródno district, Warsaw
Source: press release