We are filled with love and hate
As the title suggest, this section contains works that are connected in any way with the concepts of love and hate. We begin with the work called “More”, already a classic one. It tells a tale of a rather morbid rivalry and bragging match about who has suffered more. The section includes also two interactive billboards – the viewers could “enter the picture” by putting on a special “costume” and take a photograph of themselves to take home afterwards. This allowed the viewers to “walk over every_body” or become a “rather dead corporate worker”. Among other works from this section, there is also a billboard inspired by the latest economic crisis, entitled „The great aid”. We thought that if we have to make such absurdly huge payments to the banks and companies that blackmail us, then why shouldn’t we demand payments for more important “institutions”, such as faith, hope and love, which constitute the fundaments of our civilisation?
On the other pages, we can see the two works that were created as a result of our 2009 residency in Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, UK. In one of the photos, placed next to our poster, we see a nice Polish family (living close to Norwich), with whom we discussed the idea of home, place and country as a part of our project.
This section contains also a few photographs from our happenings. In the action called “Banana towns”, bananas were given away to people in two antagonised and competing cities, Toruń and Bydgoszcz. The action was carried out simultaneously in the two places. In each town one ton of bananas was distributed. We chose bananas for this work, because during the communist era they were a rare delicacy. They were associated with luxury and this connotation has partially survived up to this day. The bananas distributed in Toruń had stickers with a caption that read “Greetings from Bydgoszcz”, while in Bydgoszcz, bananas had similar stickers with “Greetings from Toruń” written on them.
Other happenings included an action called “Galeria Rusz will brighten up your life”, in which people were offered fudge candy and stuffed toys. These were placed on an information post for anyone to take. During the action entitled “From now on, we pay in good”, which took place on the 1st of May 2004 – the day of Poland’s accession to the EU – we gave people GOOD banknotes that we made ourselves. Each banknote had the denomination of 10 GOOD and one could “pay” with them for a meal in a nearby restaurant, worth 10 zlotys. In this way, we could introduce our own currency (if only for a short time), and people could “pay” in GOOD.
Another action was entitled “Warmth”. On a cold winter day, we gave passers-by hot tea with lemon and said something nice to them to make them feel warmer. Oftentimes, our tea was a pretext for intimate conversations between accidental passers-by.
More, 2009, mural, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich / We suffered more – The Ukrainians, The Jews, The Germans, The Poles, The Czechs, The Russians, The Lithuanians, The Belorussians, The Slovaks
Love, 2007, billboard, Płock, (JG) / Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind (W. Shakespeare)
Everything human, 2009, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Everything human is alien to us
A fig-sign, 2008, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Instead of giving love, we don’t give a fig
The poster refers to the “fig-sign”, a rude gesture used in Slavic cultures. The gesture shown to one’s interlocutor denotes that the interlocutor will not get anything he or she expected to gain.
Banana towns, 2004, performance, Toruń, Bydgoszcz
In the action called “Banana towns”, bananas were given away to people in two antagonised and competing cities, Toruń and Bydgoszcz. The action was carried out simultaneously in the two places. In each town, one ton of bananas was distributed. The bananas distributed in Toruń had stickers with a caption that read “Greetings from Bydgoszcz”, while in Bydgoszcz, bananas had similar stickers with “Greetings from Toruń” written on them.
Call us, 2001, billboard, Toruń, (JG) / Become our employee; you can take a picture of yourself here
Now you too can walk over every_body, 2000, billboard, Kazimierz Dolny, (JG) / You can take a picture of yourself here
During these two performances the viewers could “enter the picture” by putting on a special “costume” and take a photograph of themselves to take home afterwards. This allowed the viewers to “walk over every_body” or become a rather dead corporate worker.
Warmth, 2004, performance, Toruń
During the action entitled “Warmth”, which took place on a cold winter day, we gave passers-by hot tea with lemon and said something nice to them to make them feel warmer. Oftentimes, our tea was a pretext for intimate conversations between accidental passers-by.
Export, 2008, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Rudness – we are so good at it that we should export it
Galeria Rusz will brighten up your life part 1, 2002, performance, Toruń, (JG)
During the performances people were offered fudge candy and stuffed toys.
Galeria Rusz will brighten up your life part 2, 2002, performance, Toruń, (JG)
Home, 2009, billboard, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, (JG)
Home, 2009, billboard, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, (RG)
The currency is to be exchanged in the nearest bureau, 2000, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / From now on, we pay in good
From now on, we pay in good, 2004, performance, Toruń / We can’t pay in euro, but we pay in good
During the action entitled “From now on, we pay in good”, which took place on the 1st of May 2004 – the day of Poland’s accession to the EU – we gave people GOOD banknotes that we made ourselves. Each banknote had the denomination of 10 GOOD’s and one could “pay” with them for a meal in a nearby restaurant, worth 10 zlotys.
The great aid, 2009, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Falling faith, hope and love need a great deal of support from the government
Welcome, 2009, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Welcome to the domain where envy will always reign
The Key, 2006, mural, Płock, (RG) / Love is the key to everything
Gooseberry, 2008, billboard, Toruń, (RG) / Has your family also grown gooseberry/goosebumps?
