Filmoteka Muzeum

nieużyty materiał PKF nr 32818

Paweł Kwiek was one of the main members and animators of the Workshop of the Film Form, a group active in the 1970s at the Film School in Łódź. In a revolutionary spirit the members of the Workshop aimed to reform cinematography, which – they believed – should abandon the dominant role of film narrative and plot in the classic understanding of the term. The Workshop artists, including Kwiek, authored some of the most outstanding achievements in the field of structural cinema in Poland. They also pursued a profound reflection on the perception of reality as well as the role of the means of mechanical record of image in the process.

The footage presents the artist's presentation during the Artists' Meeting within the Festival of One Actor Theatres at the club Od Nowa in Toruń in 1976. Kwiek explained the main motifs of his artistic reflection and practice during that period. The artist contrasted the description of reality by means of spoken language with the imaging of reality by means of devices that record image and sound, such as a the film camera. As Kwiek admits, although neither of the two methods brings human perception closer to the objective vision of reality, it is the means of mechanical record of image that provide the possibility of a more precise depiction.

Kwiek's presentation betrayed a performative character. It served the artist to carry out his film action titled The Portrait of Henryk Zdrojewski – Ear. Kwiek filmed Henryk Zdrojewski, sitting next to him, in a series of rapid close-ups. As the artist explains: “I treated his ear as a simple example of a film object on a plane and made use of the possible ways of filming it according to that model.” The artist also recorded the gathered audience on camera. These images are visible in the second part of the footage. Kwiek's action drew attention to the multiplicity of possible visions of reality, none of which is objective.

nieużyty materiał PKF nr 32818

Zdjęcia: Paweł Kwiek
Osoba: Paweł Kwiek (artysta sztuk wizualnych), Henryk Zdrojewski
Obiekt: klub Od Nowa
Zdarzenie: Spotkanie Artystów w ramach Festiwalu Teatrów Jednego Aktora
Czas akcji: 1976
Miejsce akcji: Toruń
Prawa: WFDiF