GRZEGORZ KLAMAN, BURYING OF THE BOOKS, 1987 (1-1/1)
In 1987 Grzegorz Klaman – the sculptor and founder og the Island Gallery (Wyspa) – has dig in on the Spichrzów Island in Gdańsk the books of Marx, Kant, Hegel and other classic philosophers. This action was an implementation of a concept of Reverse Archeology, developed by the artist.
„Exit from the present, linear time to total time or timeliness. Direction of this run is not binding anymore, for I do not use the notions of development and progress. We can make multidirectional substitutes of meanings. Through fitting into surroundings or a situation created and understood throughout centuries and through cognition of time and space or timeliness we dig out meanings important for the present. Opposite to applying the present consciousness, we dig out the meanings of the past. I mean exactly this, talking about reverse archeology. (Embedded stones. Substitution of time lapse by change of space situation. Culture and knowledge tells us that we dig out what is old and passed by. Acting in accordance with the impulse described above, I have dig in contemporary remains.)(…)
„The Spichrzów Island is a place (ex-territory) releasing a special feeling of history space, what was in the past and participating at the same time, present as cultural fertilizer, fermenting the resources. Working on the „Island”, I draw upon the consciousness many layers under my feet, loads, earth, burned grain, burned floors etc. I constantly found lost fragments, returned layers, which influence the present shape of implementations appearing at this place. Constituting media in the face of the place, their invoking, which is reading at the same time. A retrospective of negative into positive, use of the degraded, which has never lost inspiring contents.”
[Grzegorz Klaman. Events-actions Effigies Objects. Gdańsk 1992]
