Better self
07.07 – 27.08.2017 Better self
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
participants: Centrum w Ruchu (Karolina Kraczkowska, Agnieszka Kryst, Ramona Nagabczyńska, Renata Piotrowska-Auffret, Magda Ptasznik, Maria Stokłosa, Iza Szostak), Xavier Cha, Nina Cristante, Jennifer Lacey, Dominika Olszowy, Paweł Sakowicz, Cally Spooner, Marta Ziółek
curator: Magdalena Komornicka
cooperation: Zuzanna Zasacka
graphic design: Jakub de Barbaro
Self-awareness, creativity, health, assertiveness, therapy, mental comfort, enjoyment of life, fulfilment of needs, desires, and goals, independence, freedom, sense of accomplishment, self-regard, self-acceptance, optimism, activity, beauty, youth, happiness, wellness, sports, diet, healthy eating – do these words sound familiar?
We live in times when a striving to create a new, better, perfect version of yourself is a foundation of daily functioning. Making yourself better is not just a lifestyle and a trend, but also a driving force of the market. Your efforts are exploited by marketing strategies, advertisers, and media. Gyms are full of people, shop shelves sag under the weight of ecological products, bookstores offer countless guides to better, healthier, and happier living. Thousands of fitness gurus sell their wisdom on Instagram, and fitness apps domineer our mobile phones as we count the steps, kilometres, calories, glasses of water, and hours of sleep. We are pestered by advertisements of workshops and weekend courses through which we will find body awareness, strength, self-confidence, and happiness. We do yoga, meditate, and undergo therapies, and pharmaceutical companies make fortunes selling antidepressants. Willing or not, we are part of a culture of individualism and therapeutic discourse.
Ego Trip, a little-theatre project in cooperation with actress Dominika Biernat, will take you to places that you don’t necessarily want to visit. A performed walk around the seven hills of human nature may prove uncomfortable, but will force you to do some positive self-reflection.
Dominika Olszowy is an artist working at the intersection of different media, such as video, performance, sculpture, installation, or stage design. She graduated from Marek Wasilewski’s video studio at the University of Arts in Poznań, majoring in Intermedia. Author, from 2008, of the ephemeral Sandra Gallery. Co-founder of the radical hip hop collective Cipedrapskuad. Member and co-founder of the motorbike gang Horsefuckers MC.
Nina Cristante's Zao Dha Diet (ZDD) and Fitness Povero (FP) are ongoing works and health consultation systems.
Working with a physiotherapist Krzysztof Stefanek, she will run a series of workout sessions for seniors at four different city gyms around Warsaw. Each session will include a 45 minutes bodyweight workout and a 45minutes tutorial on how to use and optimize the city gym equipment, taking time to guide each participant individually.
As part of the exhibition the artist offered professional dietary consultations.
Two new films by the artist were screened during the exhibition.
What Should I Do and If I Do It Will It Make Me a Better Person – 16-19 August, 5-8 p.m. Consultations conducted in English
info: entry included in the ticket price, first come, first served basis
Using the ( absent) works of the exhibition : “A Better You” in conjunction with some pieces from the permanent collection of the museum as an interpretive system, JL offers personal consultations to people dedicatied to discussing a problem.
What is the resonance of an exhibition? The gathering of works together for an exhibition or a permanent collection brings them into relation to each other creating a dynamic code system that can be performed/ read. When we go see work in a museum or gallery what are we hoping to receive? What do we give the works by visiting them? By using the art works present in the museum as a performative divining system we can imagine that these works concern you directly and are dying to speak with you to you.
Better self
07.07 – 27.08.2017
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
pl. Małachowskiego 3, 00-916 Warsaw
See on the map
Godziny otwarcia:
Tuesday – Sunday 12–8 p.m.
Thursday – free entry
ticket office is open until 7.30 p.m.