The "Analogies" exhibition presents three perspectives of three authors on the phenomenon of analog photography – the classical, non-digital form of photography, which, alongside the invention of printing, is one of the earliest examples of "Media Memory" – a key element of civilizational transformations. It also exemplifies that the only proper way of "Describing the World" is through various approaches to depicting the world, and that's why we do it together. One of the aspects that interests us is the lifespan of the medium, "Media Memory," which, with technological progress – especially due to destructive principles of copyrights and patents – undergoes drastic shortening and restriction. We can still admire cave paintings, read manuscripts, but hardly anyone can decode LPs, CDs, or DVDs anymore. Can we draw lessons and insights related to the upcoming AI from reflections on the transformations of photography – from classical to digital?
Marek Noniewicz
Visual artist, educator. Member of ZPAF (Association of Polish Art Photographers) and the Scientific Society of Photography. Participant and curator of many photography exhibitions, including several international projects. His works are in the collections of the Center for Contemporary Art in Toruń, BWA Municipal Gallery in Bydgoszcz, Regional Museum in Bydgoszcz, as well as private collections. He is a scholarship recipient from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Bydgoszcz. The project "Notes from Memory" is realized with the support of the Scholarship from the Mayor of Bydgoszcz.
For several years, he has been documenting everyday life using instant photography. It is a capricious and unpredictable tool, but its advantage is that it provides a tangible photograph, which is a testimony of a particular moment. Materiality is a crucial element of the project; in the semi-fluid virtual reality, it is almost an anomaly. The resulting photographs serve as a kind of sketchbook for him, and the taken picture is sometimes the starting point for further actions. However, they are fully autonomous works, like haiku, a result of amazement by light and space, a kind of observation that precedes the process of mental analysis.I am fascinated by the moment in instant photography when the image slowly appears; this process depends on many factors and can take from several minutes to a dozen or so. At some point, right after taking the photo, I started to hide them, and instead of passively waiting for the image to appear, I made notes describing why I took the photo, what I felt at the moment of photographing, and what inspired me to take the picture. Later, I would juxtapose the image with the text. Over time, I distanced the moment of describing the photographed situation, so as to "develop" the event from memory when making the note. This development refers to the analog technology that I consistently exploit. "Notes from Memory" - describing photographs are a kind of author's poetic commentary, which, together with the picture, creates a certain whole. The title also emphasizes the shift of emphasis from the image to the words, as these words will provide an essential context for the reception of the whole.
http://mareknoniewicz.blogspot.com/
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Józef Żuk Piwkowski
Engineer, photographer, filmmaker... the discoverer of "Copy Please" and "Media Memory". Creator of "KSW / Book of All Words", Gallery 2B+ (R, DC, M, L...), publishing house "Working Title", and artistic projects since 1977. Born in Łódź, he has also worked in Warsaw, Paris, Cannes, Berlin, Sofia, and New York.
In the text "Meta Memory, or from word, photography, film, and television to live streaming on the internet" - dedicated visually to Gustave Courbet - he conducts considerations and reflections on the nature and connections of cybernetics, historiosophy, "Media Memory", "Ethosophy", and the principle of "Copy Please", with - the nature of man, self-awareness, and the Big Bang.
Currently in Bydgoszcz, at "StudioRejs" / 2B - a house on water, he is developing the concept of "Multiple Portrait" and runs the 2B+L Gallery with ZbyZiel.
At the exhibition, he will present original old classical photos of his own and family.
https://www.facebook.com/jozef.piwkowski
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ZbyZiel (Zbigniew Zieliński)
Painter, photographer, and art activist. Since 1990, he has been actively involved in the artistic community in Bydgoszcz (including "Szkoła Bydgoska," "Galeria Kantorek," "Świetlica Artystyczna Trytony," "F.R.G.S. Mózg," "Sanatorium," "Czarny Karzeł," and currently co-creates Gallery 2b+L with Józef Żuk Piwkowski). He has exhibited both individually and collectively in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Greece.
I present a theoretical black-and-white negative film of type 135 (24 or 36 exposures). This film contains light from the years between 1953 and 2012. It was photographed by a father and son. The age difference at the time of shutter release is reversed. Such a negative could have come into existence.
Exhibition opening hours:
09.18-22; 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
For sightseeing, it's best to contact us beforehand at the phone number provided:
601 390 205
Józef Żuk Piwkowski