Exhibition: What a beautiful catastrophe, or notes from the time of the pandemic / WEREWISE: 2.09.2022 / at 18.00 / EXHIBITION ON: 2.10.2022 / Venue: Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych / 54 Siennieńska Street, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski
Notes from a time filled with uncertainty. A time of stopping and finding relationships. A time of fear and experimentation, but also of hope for a better tomorrow. The project, which runs for two years (2020-2022), consists of several chapters - photographs, films, installations and sounds. Social themes are intertwined in it with the author's personal reflections.
Publication: NOTHING INTERESTING
Many conspiracy theories have emerged in response to the pandemic. As early as February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that it is accompanied by a wave of disinformation often called "infodemia." It involves the spread of distorted information ranging from conspiracy theories to so-called "fake news.
For several years of working in the media, I produced information. With the help of the camera I recorded, described, tried to remain objective. Was it successful? I don't know. After the outbreak of the pandemic, I felt information overload. Maybe it was fear? I got on my bike. I explored other places, started meeting new people. I took different pictures. I bypassed the tribal divisions that brightly decorate the landscape of social life. The ambiguity of the times we live in went aside for a while.
The statistics in the publication should bring us down to earth. It is impossible to move past what has happened and is still happening. We live in an age of numbers. Numbers that we do not comprehend and that no longer move us. We look at it all and feel nothing.
Photographs: Adrian Wykrota / Text: Adrian Wykrota / Publication design: dobosz.studio / Photo editing: Krzysiek Orłowski / Content supervision: Anna Molter / Editing and proofreading: Michalina Łabiszak / Translation: Konrad Baranowski / Preparation of photographs for print: Ieva Austinskaitė | aust.studio
Adrian Wykrota - Photographer, documentary filmmaker, initiator and co-founder of the PIX.HOUSE foundation. Member of ZPAF and the UNPOSED collective. Graduated with honors from the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic, as well as cultural studies - media studies and English philology. ITF SU doctoral student. Scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture, Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, ZAIKS and the City of Poznań. Participant of Magnum Photos agency workshops in Birmingham and Belfast. In 2014 selected as one of the world's top 30 photographers before 30 by Magnum Photos. Winner and finalist of competitions: IPA, Grand Press Photo, BzWBK Press Photo, Lumix Festival, Leica Street Photo, Photojournalist of the Year. He has presented his works at exhibitions in Poland and around the world. Adrian Wykrota's publication "No" was included in the book collection of London's Tate Modern curated by Martin Parr. A native of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, he currently lives in Poznan.