Container saga /05.10.2024
I'm riding my bike quietly, thinking that I'm carrying a juice bottle in my overflowing panniers, some papers, but there's no place to get rid of them in a civilized way. Then I spot his! A beautiful yellow plastic waste container. I nonchalantly stop in front of it, elegantly aiming the packaging at the garbage can, when I hear a grave voice behind me.
-Why are you dumping this here? - Suddenly, as if from the ground, she sprang up, a guardian of local order, a defender of the dumpster at the allotments, because only now did I realize that the dumpster was in front of ROD, an association that owns innumerable lands in the centers of cities in Poland, with which it makes developers' ears red with anger.
- Because it's a dump - I answer uncertainly, because I already know that nothing good will happen to me here.
- I'm calling the city guard!
- Okay, but I only threw away the juice bottle, not the corpse. Is it really necessary?
- This is a private dump!
Now I know that only selected and initiated members of the ROD can use the power of the magic container. I cowardly apologized and ran away, but I still looked behind me for half a day to see if I was being pursued by a common movement of allotment holders armed with earth-moving tools....
Żyjemy w takich czasach, gdzie nie mogę normalnie wyrzucić śmieci, bo kosze publiczne to jakiś zaginiony relikt, a kontenery na śmieci to święte miejsca, które odwiedzać mogą jedynie wybrani. Albo wgl produkować mniej śmieci, ale to już nie jest rozmowa i indywidualnych decyzjach.
General Drama / 04.10.2024
In school they taught me that there is epic, lyric AND drama. Well, then where is the drama, because certainly not in the world of literature. Drama is practically absent from literary festivals, and there are no awards for drama. (Well, okay, Tadeusz Slobodzianek won a “Nike” for his excellent “Our Class,” but that was in 2010, which is 14 years ago).
Of course, we also have industry awards, the Gdynia Drama Award at the Witold Gombrowicz City Theater in Gdynia (but very separate from the GDYNIA Literary Award, lest it be said that drama is also literature) the Aurora at the Polish Theater in Bydgoszcz, the Tadeusz Różewicz Drama Award at the City Theater in Gliwice, and the Children and Youth Theater Art Competition at the Children's Art Center in Poznań. You can win up to 50k of the grand prize. There is also the Competition for the Staging of Polish Contemporary Art, but here the text must be realized, there are some prizes for the script, but again you are competing with prose adaptations. And, of course, the Contact Zones at the Wroclaw Contemporary Theater, which, more than a competition, is a casting call for a text to be staged in the theater this season. Only to participate in this competition you already have to be a famous (i.e., published) writer, because it is for invited guests only.
Well, and precisely because we have limited opportunities to publish our works on paper we are out of literary circulation even more than contemporary poets with print runs of 5 copies. Of course, there are exceptions (thanks, Epea. Literary magazine, thanks, plant.magazine, thanks Dialog. Monthly magazine of contemporary drama, thanks to the Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theater, Young(sz)a Poland program).
My main playwriting activity, as it turned out, is documentary theater at Theatre on Facts, Grotowski Institute. I came up with the idea that since the plays are no longer being performed it would be nice to preserve these priceless testimonies in the form of an anthology. I even went to the website of Black Publishing, which seemed like a natural choice for non-fiction theater, but they wrote that they only accept prose so I let it go. Enthused by the linked column I also wrote, to Layers Publishing with this proposal, but the 3-month period for a reply has not yet passed, which if it does not come I should not get my hopes up. The big publishers are dropping out all the more.
Often when I excitedly tell my friends from other arts, EJ GET ON OUR NEW SPECTRE, TOTAL SHIT, GIVE IT TO YOU, ULTIMATE YOU WILL GET IT, they quench my enthusiasm with “well, sorry, but I don't like theater”. Well, and ok, there is no obligation to like the theater, but I feel sorry that we fly to all the neighborhood exhibitions (although it's not always worth it), we watch cinema novelties at night, and during the breaks we card all the new books (until I regret that I did not go to that speed reading course they advertised in my junior high school.), because we are people of culture, because to know what's in the grass is not only a pleasure, but also an obligation, because in the theater we have everything, and literature and music and dance and art and high fashion, well, just total-art. I have the feeling that we live in our theatrical bubble, totally unaware that what warms us environmentally, in the long run no one cares. Well, unless it's violence in the theater. As written in the column, contemporary poets at least read other contemporary poets, and playwrights don't read contemporary playwrights, because they don't even have that chance.
Perhaps theater is beautiful precisely by its ephemerality, but in this ephemerality at least the script has a chance to be preserved. Artists say they practice art to leave a mark. But they are certainly not theater artists. I'm megalomaniacally going through my dramas in the cold, and I've noticed that they are all written “God's way,” most of them directed by myself. And the various postmodern games of reheated avant-garde type streams of consciousness, some bizarre arrangement of texts, polyphonies of voices, did not even rub off on the realization, so perhaps this is our subconscious and desperate cry for writing in the literary world, because it certainly does not make it easier to work with an acting ensemble. And someone appreciated Joyce then maybe they will appreciate me too. Although they also appreciated Mrożek and Różewicz. Well, but they used to be dramas, and now they are not. Stories about emigrants were timeless, and now only journalistic.
In “ Zabka ” adventures like in a movie / 22.09.2024
Last night I'm driving with my partner in the car through the so-called suburbs, when suddenly from over the horizon emerges it, the Frog! I'm sure you've seen this store, because it's on every corner. In the vicinity of the works I have three such stores, which fiercely compete with each other for the customer, which is not easy, because they have the same prices and promotions, so they resort to... other methods. Well, but that is a story for another occasion. The Żabka we approached was a real moloch, a green mother with its own parking lot for about 5 vehicles. The facility impressed me, no less than it once did when I woke up in the family apartment and instead of the combat sports hall I used to go to get a pounding as a kid, it turned out to be a Ladybug.
- Come to Żabka, I'll buy some smokes. - The voice snapped me out of my reverie about the state of Polish commerce. At the time, I didn't yet know that this was the beginning of my troubles.
We enter the Zhabka-Molocha, and there is a flock of Drillers waiting for their hot dogs. I mean, I don't know if they were all for hot dogs, because now at Żabka you also get kebabs, ramen and casseroles. I also don't know if they were all drillers, but that's how I associated them from the alarming headlines in the newspaper that drillers were walking around the Poznań mall and robbing people. What could they be doing in a neighborhood Żabka? Shouldn't they be scaring people at, say, Magnolia? And then I was reminded that a famous Poznań gangster, Marek F., alias “Western,” chased them off. Well, and maybe he was so effective that the drillers moved from large shopping centers to local centers, less protected and more discreet. Maybe that's why they also seem polite and laid back? Or maybe they weren't drillers at all, just regular kids who, like moths, gather around the only point of light in the neighborhood darkness?
In Żabka, as it is in Żabka, one immediately takes some cola, because if you take two, you save 50 cents, some cupcake, because sweet is always cool, but not according to my impending diabetes, some yogurt there. Well, and we wait at the checkout until the drillers get the awaited evening meal. Of course, each laced with dialogue:
–What sauce?
–What are they?
– Ketchup, barbecue, garlic, barbecue mustard and firecracker!
– Garlic
–just ran out.
–so american.
- But we have ketchup, barbecue, garlic, barbecue mustard and firecracker!
- Garlic is not available?
– well there isn't.
- Which ones are they?
And so we pass the time listening to friendly conversations. Of course, we could have used the self-service checkout, but those damn pipes! You can't take them yourself, and we didn't want to further stress the store clerk.
And then he walks in. A guy who looks like he's on fentanyl and amphetamines at the same time. He's fidgeting with something, banging on the shelves, but no one pays attention to him, or pretends not to. The dude wobblyly lines up behind us. The atmosphere is tense, like assembling furniture from Ikea together, but we stand. Each second drags on indefinitely, as does the infinite, yet very short, list of sauces to choose from. Finally, the cafeteria closes, and the weary saleswoman reaches us. The application, there is no, we don't put on, we pay with Blik, and what is it, and good, blah-blah and the sacramental falls:
- Pall Malle thin blue?
- Bright od dark,
- doesn't matter
- so bright
- however, dark.
And then this guy to me:
- Give me those shills, duuuuuuude! - Just with that very long “u”. Actually, I don't know why he turned to me with this question, since I only assisted in buying a pack of cigarettes for 17.99 and a few other things.
- No. - I simply said and looked away so as not to provoke him and at the same time end the conversation unequivocally. But I guess I wasn't firm enough.
- Then buy me a package.
- No. - I repeated, this time looking into his eyes, like a fighter before a fight.
- Oh you, whore. - This time he turned to my partner.
- Please step aside. - She asked politely.
And I don't know if he wanted to howl at her, or if he was so taken aback by her firm reaction that he wobbled and howled right into a cardboard Kinder-Surprise stand. Only now did anyone pay attention to him. Then the drillers started asking him to get the fuck out of THEIR Frog, but they kind of acted like they knew each other. Because they discussed something there afterwards over a sea of chocolate eggs and with hot dogs in their hands.
We acted little brave, because we just left. Already safe in the car I was already murmuring something there, that maybe we should have poured the pipes already, probably in 200 meters there is another Frog, where you could buy it without a spike, but I was extinguished with words:
- After all, I'm not going to deny myself, just because some stoned type is tearing up the store.
Well, yes, I thought, but said nothing. Firing up the century-old Polonez, I was already reflecting on the fact that I was the type bullied by dregs as a child, and admiring the courage of my girlfriend, who clearly sets boundaries.
Finally, I have this thought to never work in Zabka on Koszalinska Street.
In the theater as in the corpo? / 27.05.2024
I used to laugh with my corpo-friends that in working with the SCRUM method in the theater (And this is how the Oresteia production was created under the creative management of Michal Zadara) we would end up with actors and producers spending more time and energy on the report of the last sprint than actually building the role or composing the music. However, only from an interview in Didaskalia Theater Newspaper I learned that the director has not appeared in person at the theater even once! Reading this article and the experiment conducted crystallized my thoughts on the current function of a theatrical director.
I've always been closest to the definition once read in the book “Theater Directing” by Wojciech Szulczynski.
“Theater Team Manager”.
Not Demiurge, Creator, Visionary, but just a down-to-earth Theater Team Manager. This seems the closest to me, because you have to watch over everything i.e. building sets, costumes, working with actors, producing music and reacting to any slips and fakaps. Of course, the bigger the production, the more people who take the responsibility off my back, for some things, but in the end, anyway, when something needs to be intervened, it is the director's job, because such a director-centric theater is in Poland.
In the current standard of work oriented process, dialogue and partnership, the director moves away from the role of visionary, to that of coordinator, so that the production of the play goes smoothly and the premiere does not have to be postponed. Anyone who has participated in any activity based on the principles of direct democracy knows that everyone cannot decide everything, because even with a well-developed culture of debate it simply takes too long, which is why even anarchists advocate a system of mandating and leaving decision-making to a limited area. So the director becomes a coordinator, managing the creative process.
On the other hand, later you can read in columnists that unprepared directors prey on the team, or overhear actors on the pipe saying that this type does not direct anything, we make up everything ourselves.
And here the question arises: where does partnership end and foraging begin? I'll say up front that I don't know the answer to it, but it's determined by the unmeasurable comfort factor.
Who will block whom / 25.07.2024
That's how I'm watching the videos "Last Generation" And I come to the conclusion that drivers are totally fucked off. How can you fuck up some kids because you have to stand in traffic for a while? Here the conundrum. For how long do they block the passage
a) 12 hours
v) 20 minutes
c) 3 hours
The correct answer is B
So it's hard to find any rationale here for spraying 20-year-olds with a fire extinguisher like Gregory Braun, another fighter for individual freedom, or treating them with pepper spray. Yes, I also happen to stand in traffic, and it causes a certain nervousness, but what the drivers present themselves is pure sadism. Of course, this happens with the tacit (or silent) approval of the police. I would also like to remind you that blocking traffic is an EXCEPTION, which is subject to a fine of up to 500 zlotys, and not a crime punishable by death, as the self-drivers would like, who seem to be playing too much the role of self-appointed hags defending the sacred bandwidth from protesters and themselves. Because remember, you're not standing in traffic, you're the traffic jam.
Well, and when I see these morons fierce in hatred, I start to be completely in favor of these green zones, where cars should be banned. Maybe I won't be able to drive my Poldon around downtown, but people will be calmer. Because in hindsight, simply riding a bicycle also causes unjustified aggression, probably resulting only from the stress of moving 4-wheelers.
It's been a long time since I've seen such acquiescence to direct, physical and verbal violence against people in person, because on the Internet it's a daily occurrence. And it's violence with impunity, because peaceful protests are based on the fact that if they beat you, you don't give it back.
I'm posting here a photo from the so-called Sit-In Woolworth Lunch Counter of 1960, where black residents sat at the bar and were also victims of similar actions. Today no one is saying they deserved it, just as in 50 years no one will be saying that mugging people blocking the roadway is ok.
Keep this in mind when they are finally run over, because that's what car enthusiasts are encouraged to do. And hopefully no one will then smile triumphantly.
Who can hang in the galleries? / 24.04.2024
Technical worker of Pinakothek der Moderne hung a painting of his in a gallery. the artist was fired from his job, and the police opened an investigation into the minor issue of illegally drilling two holes in the wall (xD)
“The employee considers himself an artist and most likely considered his role in the museum's team as a side job through which he had the means to pursue his true vocation” - This is how the Pinacoteca comments for the Guardian.
I find this statement amusing, and at the same time appalling that this man is denied the right to be an artist. And yet, already one of the oldest, Aristotle's definition of art, says that art is the result of rational production based on knowledge and rules. That is, we determine whether something is art or not because of the purpose and intention of its creation. And he more than a century, that is, since the exhibition of Marcel Duchamp's famous urinal, it is known that an artist can be anyone, and art can be anything and nothing, depending on the context. The statement by the Pinakothek spokesman seems out of place, all the more so because nowadays contemporary art places great emphasis on equality, openness, inclusivity, and galleries successfully exhibit so-called “outside artists”, i.e. people without academic training. I don't know about Switzerland, but in Poland visual artists in the overwhelming majority have a “normal” job in addition to their artistic activities, because it is impossible to make a living only from art, especially visual art. So I don't know why the Pinakothek spokesman is ironic about this. Doesn't he know what the art market is like?
Especially since this is not the first time this has happened. Polish galleries can respond to such subversive artistic strategies in a more elegant way.
In 2012, ASP student Andrew Sobiepan hung his painting in w National Museum in Wrocław. And so “Polish White Hanging” hung for three days next to works by Witkacy, Strzeminski, Stażewski, among others. In addition, the artist refused to collect the work. In the end, the work was donated to @WOŚP, and the museum director called the action a witty happening.
In 2006, Kamil Sipowicz hung his painting “Apollo” at Zacheta. The gallery staff showed more vigilance, because the work hung for only an hour. It is interesting to note that this “Apollo” - a patron of art, and the logo of the exhibition was a clenched fist with a brush - a symbol of street art. Also in 2006, Rahim Blak's painting, after a similar action, was added to the collection Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie
It is worth mentioning that the precursor (at least the well-known one) was the Banksy dropped off his works at the world's most famous galleries and museums, i.e. the Tate Modern in London, MoMA The Museum of Modern ArtParis Musée du Louvre hung his version of Mona Lisa, which had a “smile” emoticon instead of a face. The installation was not noticed until three days later.
This makes such a statement by a museum spokesman all the more surprising, which only shows that the declaratively open world of contemporary art can sometimes be overly conservative. The class background is also interesting. All the people mentioned were students of the Academy of Fine Arts. In this case “ interesting happening”, and as the technical employee did it is “UUUUU, HOW DID HE DO THIS, ART IS NOT RESPECTED”.
Where are these terrorists? / 03.12.2023
Recently, an acquaintance, upon hearing about my past in the anarchist movement, replied, “Good thing we had anti-terrorist training recently.” This is a joke, of course.
Nevertheless, it shows certain clichés perpetuated in the mass imagination. Associations that on a subconscious level link us to anarchists and terrorists. It also works similarly with muslims, as I've examined from the number of memes.
Meanwhile, we now know who the person is who shot dead two police officers on Friday night! This time it was Jaszczur and Ludwiczek, well-known right-wing patostreamers, leaders of the so-called Kamrats.
Recall the bombers of the last decade:
a) Bomber from Wroclaw - Corvinist
b) Brunon Kwiecień - Aside from the fact that his shaykh included him and four ABW agents, he established cooperation with the neo-Nazi organization Blood&Honor.
(c) A married couple tried to bring a bomb to an equality march in Lublin - Defenders of the traditional family model.
Meanwhile, the state supports and legitimizes the Independence March, and the parliamentary benches are filled with people who want, for example, to beat non-heteronormative people. We are breeding them on our own breast.
So I guess we live in one big Baudrillardian Simulacra, and we are driven not by facts, but by clichés, prejudices and misguided notions.
Fascism that is coming / 27.08.2023
Niedawno zakończyłem lekturę książki „Faszyzm, który nadchodzi”, Przemysław Witkowski, czyli zbioru wywiadów ze współczesnymi badaczami ruchów skrajnie prawicowych.
O ile, wydawało mi się, że miałem pojęcie o tym jak działają współczesne ruchy faszystowskie to te rozmowy otworzyły mi oczy np. Na to ile czerpią one z rewolucji kulturowej ’68 roku, jak mocno powiązane są z etno-prawicowym new age, jak tworzą się mity narodowe itp. Jak francuscy postmodernisci dali się wyrolować w walce o dominujący język, i to swoją własną, rozmytą, bronią. A także jakie, wydawałoby się, przezroczyste strategie stoją za wprowadzaniem ksenofobicznych idei w życie.
Polecam każdemu. Tym bardziej, że gdy prawicowy polityk będzie wymachiwał encyklopedia PWN czytając, że ” faszyzm to masowy ruch polityczny, ideologia o skrajnie nacjonalistycznym charakterze, totalitarny reżim polityczny we Włoszech po wyeliminowaniu opozycji parlamentarnej w połowie lat 20. XX w.” I śmiał się, że te lewaki coś tam wymyślają, bo ani nie jest ruchem masowym, ani we Włoszech, ani w połowie lat xx, będzie udawał, że wcale nie jest totalitarny, bo przecież bierze udział w wyborach, a tak poza tym ma inną stylówkę, a hailuje tylko na prywatnych imprezach i to ironicznie, więc na pewno żadnym faszystom nie jest, to warto wiedzieć, że sprawa jest dużo bardziej skomplikowana, a spektrum współczesnego faszyzmu (neofaszyzmu? postfaszyzmu?) dużo szersze.
Only empty bottles remain / August 3, 2023
It is so good, living in the culture, that I throw the high in the container. Into the glass container. The high in the form of returnable bottles.
Yesterday I was again painfully aware that in this country the desire to build a green, closed-loop economy is only declarative.
I accumulated as many as a dozen beer bottles at home. Unfortunately, in the party euphoria, no one thought to collect receipts, which effectively made it impossible to return the returned packages. Even trying to replace them (although I don't know when I'll feel like having 12 brews again. Well, but it won't go to waste) was unsuccessful, because this one they don't accept, that one they don't accept, and it actually turned out that I would have to take the bottles with me. An attempt was made at two Żabka and a local liquor store. A quick glance at the amount of the deposit froze me, because it turned out that the merchants charge from 1 to 1.2 zlotys per bottle, which multiplied by several bottles gives quite a substantial amount.
Of course, I am prepared for the advice that supposedly in Kaufland they supposedly accept, or someone there heard that in the monopoly in Walbrzych in the store “dresiarska murder” can also be returned without a receipt. You can also behave altruistically and return the bottles without taking a deposit, only they don't either, because the lady shopkeeper shared with me confidential information that they too have a problem with returning bottles to the distributor. Do you really think that the fact that you have to put so much effort into returning returnable bottles is a logical consequence of the recycling narrative? I dream of a place where one could donate bottles and other recyclables. I think it used to be called a “buyback,” but apparently they didn't stand up to free-market environmentalism.
Maybe if I had more time I would start organizing a social movement for the possibility of returning returnable packaging, and so another dozen or so bottles ended up in the glass container, and I am poorer by half a pizza.
Here they were, so they stood / 03.05.2023
This May I finished reading “Here they were, so they stood” by Gabriel Krauze, published by Czarne Publishing House. The description “is a story, inspired by the author's life, about the difficult everyday life of young people condemned to daily combinations and living outside the law.” suggested that I would encounter a quasi-documentary description of the life of London tower blocks, and that the novel would shed new and unobvious light on the reality of the British favelas, as this is how South Kilburn is portrayed.
What we get, however, is a painfully correct gangster story, where the protagonist climbs the ladder of social position in the dregs-gangster half-world. Along the way, he fucks types, hustles chicks, steals gold, eats so much weed that it's a wonder he's able to carry out dangerous actions in a reasonably efficient manner, and performs other activities attributed to cool-bandsters, such as amateur rapping. And let's not forget about our hero's superpower. Well, he is an exemplary student of philosophy (okay, English studies, but philosophy would fit here more, since we have reflections on, how else, the Nietzschean idea of the superman and actually postmodern thought about the relativity of moral principles, which he applies to his non-academic activities in a rather simple and direct way, bravo). This theme reminds me of the novel I Am a Fan, by Krzysztof Korsak, where a similarly constructed protagonist, but nevertheless a fan and hooligan, is also a history teacher. From this position I have been rolling a constant laugh for years .
<spoiler>
Anyway, according to the rules of drama, Snoopiacz, becomes a respectable gangster in the axis, who is betrayed by his best friend and lands in jail. Later, however, he graduates and with a tear in his eye remembers those who “were here, stood there,” but they are no longer there and do not stand, because the neighborhood has been gentrified. So it's getting harder and harder to earn a scythe or a bullet.
<koniec spoilera>
Well, and actually the moral of the book is that it's cool to be a gangster and fuck people up, but all in all, however, it's cool to graduate from some humanities to lead a quiet, middle-class life. Only under a warm blanket, with a mug of cocoa in your hand to reminisce with a smile on your lips about past decimations and shootings.
Also noteworthy, as the cover description promises, is the bravura translation of London slang. I won't say, it reads quite well, but terms like “fabulous naysayers” and “zaziomować” evoke an association, with an older gentleman who wants to be youthful at all costs.
So here we have, actually a morality tale, or maybe an anti-morality tale, because, however, looking at the popularity of block-gangster cinema, the rap group Pro8l3m, Well, and the semi-ironic, tracksuit fashion among metropolitan hipsters and people of culture and art subconsciously expresses a longing for a brutal world, in which a hard bania and clenched breasts testify to your social standing, rather than there some complicated factors like cultural capital, etc. The general romanticization of stories about tough streetwalkers of my social bubble means that any initiatives for men, which can also cry, have a long and bumpy road ahead at the level of the collective subconscious. Unless they are merely declarative.
And as proof that I have experienced street life myself, I add a fote of me being whisked away on an axle in the middle of the night. So I've been there and stood there myself.
Pressure of order / 13.02.2023
Not many people like to clean, but we are forced to do so in order to function as such. However, have you noticed that all cleaning activities are all too often a tool of repression, a form of punishment?
In all the “traditions” such as the military and school surge, the lengthy and strenuous punishments involving cleaning something have already passed into legend. To make it more fun without the proper tools, for example, with a toothbrush. Also in prison, sweeping or washing the loo is a humiliating task to be performed by the weakest. There is no doubt that this type of practice is not to maintain order, but a kind of torture for the “cleaner.” In the Netflix movie created based on the story of the Standford Experiment, there is a scene where the tired prisoners are told by the keymen to make their beds. And when the unfortunate ones do, in a moment their work is nullified, and the inmates are forced to repeat it many times for a very long time, which led to mental and physical exhaustion. I experienced similar procedures at one of the scout camps, when we spent an entire afternoon knocking things out of tents and then rearranging them again.
Przypomina mi się reportaż Duży Format One gets the impression that the chief function of cleaning is, not to keep things in order, but to show dominance. Those who stand lowest in the hierarchy are forced to clean. Even in the theater, I have heard anecdotes that someone there felt offended because he himself had to sweep up after a rehearsal. Scandal. This reveals quite a lot about our approach to the unconscious “powergame” that we conduct on a daily basis. We don't clean for effect, but treat it as a means to emphasize our own position.
Dear friends, the next time someone says you have to go and sweep something up there ask yourself why he didn't do it himself. Isn't this by any chance a sophisticated struggle for dominance?
What are you doing now? / 06.02.2023
THIS question, “What are you doing now?” I used to answer, embarrassed, that I was working on a project that I have in 3 months or thereabouts next year. This was a half-truth, because, after all, it's embarrassing to admit that I'm not such a taken director that I have a show every month, and most of the expletives and proposals I send out are met with an unpleasant deafening silence. In obtaining grants and scholarships I also have an average efficiency, and I also happened to get a theater award for the realization of a performance without funding it.
Thus, for the past two years I have been working in BWA Wrocław Główny as an exhibition assistant, and interestingly enough it was a very artistically prolific time for me. Now I have settled in my second home university Akademia Sztuk Teatralnych – Filia we Wrocławiu, but the career has slowed down somewhat. However, this is a matter of the general prosperity of the art market, which has never been very good, and I have the impression that now it is dramatically bad.
And somehow it's slow going. When you're not putting on 5 shows a year or one for 100 grand it's reasonable to have a financial base. I don't know why it's so embarrassing. In Germany there are a lot of contract actors and actresses so it doesn't make the person asked so uncomfortable. Many of them work in “normal” jobs.
In Poland, there are practically no full-time positions for directors, and if there are, they are dressed up in administrative-managerial nomenclature. It's hard to say that, for example, “Literary Manager” or “Multimedia Specialist” is a strictly directorial position. Actors have it a little better, although the number of full-time positions does not even slightly match the supply. And after the recent hair-raising reports apropos of theatrical metoo, I'm not sure that being stuck for years with a violent director in a city with 3 pubs in the crosshairs is such an attractive career path. What saves us is television, better paid and, despite appearances, quite accessible to creators.
So let's throw off the yoke of shame that we don't do art 24/7 365 days a year. This is something that very few people can afford to do. Let's answer without embarrassment when asked “And what are you doing now?”. Really, actor, director, playwright, stage designer, composer are not the most important professions in the world. Contact with the “normal” world broadens our sensitivity. And let's continue to cull things that are beautiful and important. Although it would be good if they were properly rewarded, because contrary to popular opinion, theater is not just a pretentious hobby.
Reading repression / 05.02.2023
Today it was reported on me that I am reading a book , or more precisely a collection of comic books from my favorite fantasy universe, “Donald Duck”.
I don't know if the sacred law of sauning forbids reading, however, as there is a large sign hanging in the lobby that says TAKE A HANDLE, DRINK, CLAPS, READING I conclude that it does not.
However, I understand that literature (even such pulp literature) can make some people uncomfortable, subconsciously afraid. Apparently, the written word has the power to liberate minds. Although I don't suspect Donald Duck of that exactly.
So the situation is increasingly tense. Ever since Multisport cardholders have been charged a parking fee of PLN 5 and a ceremony fee (for the uninitiated, letting off scents and waving a towel to the muse in the sauna) of PLN 10. I think this is not much for employees of technology corporations, but it clearly puts them at a disadvantage compared to people who have passes/tickets directly from the Wroclaw aquapark. This is especially painful for those unaccustomed to their non-privileged status.
Thus, the place of relaxation and rest has become a field of class struggle. Tensions are mounting, are we in for a revolution?
P.S. But they could ban the plebs from the multisport though, because the crowd is like in a streetcar at 4:30 p.m. xD
Return to Barbershop / 23.10.2023
After a break of more than two years, I returned to a barber shop with a name associated with firearms. The choice fell on them because of the distance close to the place of work, thanks to which it was possible to embrace the head on the way home.
Upon entering the tabernacle, I was greeted by a boy in a caped-robin, whose style actually matched the place. The floor and, piecemeal, also the walls were covered with various stencils and patterns reminiscent of paintings in caves or bunkers scotched by mysterious religious organizations. In a place of honor was a painted portrait of Bugs Bunny with a golden shackle with a golden BitCoin symbol on his lapel. On the shelf, meanwhile, various trinkets in the climate of voodoo and steampunk. The speakers were filled with rap, a little bit gangster, and a little bit like the kind you can hear in clubs on the Unpold Passage. It's worth noting that the mirrors were shrouded in fake cobwebs. However, I don't know if this is a permanent part of the decor or an aftermath of the upcoming Halloween holiday.
After a short wait, we proceeded to the crux - the haircut. The thief cap, however, turned out to be a fashionable “beanie” headgear, the origin of which comes from American sailors, whose hats were blown off their heads by the wind, so they cut off their visors. I learned that all my life I've made the mistake of forcing hairdressers to cut my hair “up”, a'la quiff, because I have curly hair and it will stick poorly. The boy will also pay attention to my natural parting in the middle of my head, , because of which, after a long period of not cutting my hair, I look like the famous character of the TV series “M jak milosc”, namely Marek “In the heart combed” Mostowiak. I was devastated by this news, like any person who finds out that he has been doing something wrong all his life. We decided on a classic hairstyle, whatever that means. However, I was too heartbroken to resist. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
After about an hour of complicated business when a young man in a thief's cap, accompanied by rap, operated sharp instruments at my face, the haircut was completed. I looked as I always do, so I still don't know the difference between a quiff and a classic haircut, but I put that down to my ignorance.
In any case:
Decor 7/10 - despite the outlined character, however, the place lacks the polish to totally get into this eclectic, but yet somehow consistent atmosphere. On the plus side, the acceptable concentration of testosterone in the premises.
Haircut 8/10 - a little long, but effective.
It's going better and better for me. I've gone from old-school harley-corvette-riders to wanna-be gangster locals. That is, we are moving forward on the timeline.
Coordinator from outer space / 22.01.2023
Today I heard an anecdote in which Paul Verhoeven - director, writer, producer while working on the film “Soldiers of Space” in a gesture of solidarity with the actresses in the undressing scenes undressed himself.
At first glance an amusing anecdote, but just think about it for a moment, a director running around with his dick during so-called intimate scenes is unlikely to have a positive effect on the comfort of the work.
So it is with these anecdotes about the old masters of cinema and theater. They seem funny, but after a moment's reflection I am touched by a pervasive sense of cringe. It's a shame that in 1997 there wasn't yet such a profession as an intimacy coordinator. He would certainly have been useful on the set of “Soldiers of Space.”
ZWith soup in the CANservatives 26.10.2022
It's apparent that the issue of throwing soup at art, specifically at Van Gogh's famous sunflowers, continues to heat up public opinion. Apparently, I'm an art person (xD) it feels warmed up all the more!
In the 20th century, avant-garde movements of various kinds led to an unimaginable expansion of the boundaries of art. The notion of representation became conditional and so context-dependent that already everything, every object could be called art. An extremely important role was played by conceptual art based on the play of meanings. All the more so the action of changing the meaning of works firmly embedded in our culture is art. Well, and the use of tomato soup, on the one hand associated with Andy Warhol's famous can of soup, on the other referring to the theme of food waste and the subject of hunger in third world countries. A truly intertextual play.
Generally alien to me, respect for authority allows me to enjoy any action that challenges the status quo prompting me to reflect on why something is recognized, even if it is rightly worth knowing the reasons.
I also think that also in terms of activism, the action was remarkably successful. Which climate protest has resonated so much? I don't recall. And it is precisely publicity that is the main goal of activists. They are not politicians who have to pander to the voters who will bring them to power so that their agenda can be implemented. Activists can act here and now. The important thing is that they have activists. And for that they need publicity.
I've heard a lot of voices saying, “UUUUUUU, THAT WILL DESTROY THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT.” This is not true. First of all, in order to be discouraged from something, one must first support it. It is not often that we hear “I was a climate activist, but this action discouraged me.” The opinion of these goofy activists is uttered, almost always, in bad faith. It is intended only to discredit political opponents. Especially since history shows that radical actions gain supporters for moderate factions, not radicals (Overton's Window). For example, the same was said about Martin Luther King, and yet, despite the fact that this march on Washington such a radical, and the riots then were incomparably larger in scale than those of 2020, the Civil Rights Act was signed two months later! Today King is a mainstream icon of the fight for positive change.
On the other hand, let's look at, lost in the media space, Greta Thunberg. It's hard to imagine a more sophomoric protest than sitting in the street with a placard and speaking. And we remember what kind of emotions it evoked, what kind of heckling it provoked. If we want change being polite and substantive certainly won't help. Being rude and substantive, perhaps.
The tactic of civil disobedience is brilliant in its simplicity. Doing harmless but forbidden things for a just cause. For example, as blacks in the 1960s, we would sit down in a white diner and refuse to leave until we were served. Of course we would be hauled away by the police, however, empathy arises in the popular consciousness, “They broke the law, but did they do something wrong”? A similar mechanism works here, “They poured soup on the glass, but is it really something wrong?” If you think it is, then it's worth reflecting on your moral compass and commitment to the written law. Especially since the wheel of history is on our side. I can't imagine that 100 years from now people will be saying “UUUU, GOOD THAT WE DIDN'T LISTEN TO THESE CLIMATE ACTIVISTS, THEREFORE WE LIVE IN SOME POST-APOCALyptic DISTOPIA, BUT THEY DIDN'T FLOOD THE SUDS AND LICK THE PARKING SPACES.” The case is won in advance. The question is at what cost. Well, and will it be too late?
Plus a scene with the Joker, a real neo-futurist!
P.S. I got so wound up that I'm about to go to the racławicka panorama to spill the soup. Or maybe to some contemporary art gallery? There they should understand it more, so there's less chance of getting pinched.
Film autonomous from literature? / 10.08.2022
Teatr stał się autonomiczny wobec literatury na początku XX wieku. Nikt się nie przejmuje czy hamlet jest czarny albo czy lata w kosmosie, śnie lub innym wymiarze.
Meanwhile, the film didn't even live up to it in 2022. In all the productions based on literature, I read a mass of complaints that the book said “there was the most beautiful woman in the world”, and the actress not quite the most beautiful woman in the world, but also has too much pigment in her skin. Or “the book was better”... As if the film and literary medium were comparable.
I wish all filmmakers to free themselves from the yoke of literature and realism.
Jobless / 16.08.2022
I don't know why my modest, abstract, dream that people don't have to work if they don't want to, is often met with unfavorable reactions from those around me.
Szczegónie, gdy jestem atakowany reklamami „zostań rentierem przed 30”. Nawet wszechobecny marketing kursów programowania często jeet pisany w stylu „pracuj mało, zarabiaj dużo”. Albo olbrzymia popularność seriali typu „Żony Hollywood” czy ekscytacja życiem tzw. Trust fund kids, których życie wydaje się być jedną wielka impreza. W „Modzie na sukces” też rzadko widzimy Foresterow przy pracy. Podziwiamy ludzi którzy posiadają zasoby, często błędnie utożsamiając je z ciężka praca.
Could it be that the impossible dreams of a carefree and prosperous life are being silenced by the cult of the busybody?
shame / 22.05.2022
While doing various domestic and unpleasant activities, I fired up an animated series from the Star Wars universe. To follow the fate of the heroes with superhuman powers and their despicable opponents did not require too much concentration from me, I turned on the Polish dubbing. I felt a stab of shame. That how can it be, young, educated, from a great center, with a language certificate cripples the ears with dubbing? However, it was quite cool, the voices of the characters did not bite with the physiognomy of the animated characters. They also faithfully conveyed emotions. I began to wonder why I was reflexively embarrassed, despite the fact that there was no one in the house except the cats, whom I would not likely suspect of having an opinion on the subject.
The most annoying feature for me is the strict adherence to petty bourgeois conventions combined with pettiness. This manifests itself, for example:
- Making malicious comments because someone watched a dubbed movie.
- Shooting drama in a pub because someone ordered a beer with juice.
- Paying homage to some poor-gentleman's fashion rules, such as despairing that someone wore suspenders for pants that loops or wears a brown blazer after 7pm.
- Admonishing others for touching up their makeup or hairstyle in public, because supposedly you can't.
etc.
I see no reason for observing such rituals other than to signal membership in this better part of society and to recognize one's own.
A veritable pedagogy of shame. What's more, very effective since a 30-year-old peasant felt ashamed that he was watching a cartoon with Polish audio.
„Oh, you have lost weight” / May 22, 2022
Every time I hear “Oh, you've lost weight” (which is not true), I get the impression that in the collective consciousness of my friends I'm some kind of powerful fat person, and whenever they see me in person they are surprised that I'm not, though.
Coffe Addiction / 14.02.2022 14 lutego 2022
I feel that 90% of Poles are culturally and psychologically addicted to coffee.
Shouldn't the government take care of this? Maybe some prevention campaigns or something. E.g. talks in schools that you can work normally without coffee. Or meetings in the corpo encouraging people to give up this stimulant. Or the other way. Clips with phrases like “Don't talk to me before the first dash.” Maybe even release a series of T-shirts and eco-cotton bags.
I'm no longer talking about more radical measures like restricting access to the express. This could be the beginning of a revolution. As long as the addiction is not so deep that coffee drinkers would revert to drinking crude loose-leaf coffee
A trip to the Barbershop / 25.05.2021 25.05.2021
Recently, I stated that I would try to look civilized
człowiek. Chciałem ogarnąć włosy i brodę, bo miałem już
aparycję Rumcajsa z rzacholeckiego lasu. A nie byłem jednak
szlachetnym rozbójnikiem, ale prostym chłopakiem z wrocławskiego
blokowiska. Dlatego też wybrałem się do osiedlowego BARBERA. Drzwi
otworzył mi facet wyglądający jak larp amerykańskiego Harleyowca
z amerykańskich filmów, który nonszalancko palił IQOSA. Ten
elektroniczny podgrzewacz tytoniu, to jedyny atrybut, który trzymał
go we właściwej epoce. Nie miałem jednak szczęścia być
strzyżonym przez harleyowca, tylko sympatycznego młodego chłopaka.
Było nawet całkiem okej, poza tym, że cały czas spoglądała na
mnie czaszka jakiegoś rogatego zwierzęcia, goła baba, statuetka
„orły fryzjerstwa” i jeszcze kilka super męskich atrybutów.
Nawet fotel był wystylizowany na motocykl, a z głośnika sączył
się Daddy rock. Tak, dokładnie ta muzyka, o której niektórzy
mówią, że tamto to było, a teraz to już nie ma muzyki. No i
tabliczka dobitnie i literalnie informująca, że to jest miejsce P R
A W D Z I W E G O faceta. Poza tym, że wskaźnik testosteronu wybiło
mi poza skalę (a to nie przypadkiem ten hormon powoduje łysienie?
Sami podcinają gałąź, na której siedzą.) było całkiem miło.
Jednak przez cały czas trwania operacji miałem szansę odświeżyć
sobie klasistowskie, korwinistyczne poglądy, którymi z lubością i
z rozmachem wymieniali się pozostali bywalcy tego ociekającego
testosteronem miejsca.
Moja ocena?
1. Wystrój 2/5 –
jednak kiczowate i to nieironicznie
2. Strzyżenie 4/5 –
nawet ładnie wyglądam, ale dalej sam nie umiem ich układać i
niedługo zrobi mi się fryzura a’la Marek Mostowiak.
3. Konieczność
wysłuchiwania naiwnych i nietrafionych diagnoz na tematy społeczne
i polityczne? 0/5
+1 za stylówkę
harleyowca.
Średnia: 2,33/5
P.S. Następnym
razem idę do normalnego fryzjera, bo takie dawki męskości nie są
na mój organizm. Jeszcze całkiem wyłysieje
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