the film directed by Anna Markowska and Jacek Chamot
Breaking Up the Darkness talks about spatial objects and Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska – the artist who creates them, sometimes right in front of our eyes. It focuses on the works made in the last few years by this extremely active artist, a doyen of the Wrocław art scene. The objects are created using a language at the intersection of figuration and abstraction. They refer to various experiences connected with both the observation of everyday life and global events (the pandemic, war). Szpakowska-Kujawska’s message can be interpreted, on the one hand, as a token of her gratitude for the world’s biodiversity and fascination with its various cultures, and on the other – as an expression of empathy towards what is being thoughtlessly destroyed and too easily dismissed as unimportant and useless. Joyful threads merge with surprise, terror and other feelings that are difficult to define. Although the objects are not illustrations, the visual qualities of the colours, rhythmic lines and figures are so intense that they change our perception of reality.
For these reasons, the artist’s objects are approached in the film as if they were living creatures with a causative power. Being near them serves as an invitation to dialogue, prompting the viewer to react differently to the presence of the work. By disrupting our normal behaviour, they affect our perception of the world and our life situation. The film features viewers of works of art who become participants in art in front of our eyes. Eugeniusz Sadziński, a collector and lover of Szpakowska-Kujawska’s works, needs her works to feel that he does not have to fulfil himself only in predefined roles and scenarios. For Shiva Salehi, the artist’s works simply broaden her living space. But not only hers – her pets also react vividly to Szpakowska-Kujawska’s art. Dancers Fernando Torres and Katarzyna Sobiszewska responded to the intense presence of the artist’s spatial object with the movement of their bodies. In this way, they suggest that a work of art can teach us how to be spontaneous, establish relationships and react to the world with the whole body, not just with the intellect. Artist Ala Savaschevich reacted with care and protectiveness – she prepared a soft case for one of the objects. However, covering the work is not only an expression of care, but also a game with visibility, because, as the Little Prince would probably conclude on this occasion, “It is only in the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
A separate thread in the film follows the creation of an enlarged replica of Skrzydlak Miejski, one of Szpakowska-Kujawska’s winged creatures, commissioned by the 66P Subjective Institution of Culture. It took several months of work to figure out how to change the scale of a small and fabulously colourful 30-centimeter spatial object made from polychrome pieces of wood into a four-meter sculpture of metal and resin. The feat was accomplished by artists from Wrocław, Jerzy Kosałka and Tomasz Opania, who tried to faithfully reflect the original idea. Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska’s supervision over all stages of the creation process was very helpful, as were her initial strokes of the brush, which gave the object the unique feeling of her art.
The several-month period of creating the work in Opania’s open-air workshop in the village of Michałowice, from welding the metal core to applying the polychrome, came to an end in May 2022. The cheerful and smiley winged creature eventually landed on a small square at Księcia Witolda Street. It appeared in Wrocław to please the eye, surprise the passers-by and share good vibrations with them. It looks as if it was float in the air, dazzling with its light-hearted hues, urban chic and spontaneous joy.
director: Anna Markowską, Jacek Chamot
directing cooperation: Łukasz Kujawski
screenplay: Anna Markowska
camera: Jacek Chamot, Łukasz Kujawski
editing: Jacek Chamot
music: Michał Puchała
light setting of Fernando Torres Pineda’s performance: Daniel “Qman” Kuźma
production: 66P Subiektywna Instytucja Kultury
© 66P, Wrocław 2022
starring: Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska and in alphabetical order: Jerzy Kosałka, Tomasz Opania, Eugeniusz Sadziński, Shiva Salehi, Ala Savaschevich, Katarzyna Sobiszewska, Fernando Torres and the cat Misha