In some Silesian towns children collect magical green “rocks” with undulating linear patterns. These are slag – a by-product of smelting iron ore. Those stones stimulate our imagination. They direct our attention towards the underworld, imprinting our perception with a sense of verticality, of moving into the depths. What is underneath? Roots, skeletons, plant remains, dark and clear underground rivers, caves, rock-hewn galleries, drifts, people, ghosts, treasures, traces. The awareness of the inward motion changes our perception of time and presence. What was here before, still is – at the same location on the map, just deeper.

What is hidden makes itself felt, even if its presence is nebulous and unclear. The traces of surrendering to the cycles of decay and transformation of matter interweave with the traces of human attempts at taming the world. Penetration, mining, transmutation. Alchemical processes transforming one substance into another with the use of fire, water and human will. When the artist resonates with the spirit of the place that is not his own, he attunes to signals from the unconscious and starts to explore its layers. The gate into the underworld is organic materiality: the physical structure of the materials used, the mineral particles they contain, the fluxes through the artist’s body, his movements and gestures.

1/

Feel

Explore complexity.

Penetrate the layers

Find richness and let go of control.

Allow yourself sadness.

Let marvels in and dive deep.

Feel the energies, their movement, power and magic

What is Hidden.

Care and be playful.

2/

Feel. Look at yourself from the inside. What constitutes you, where you come from.

Explore your complexity. Don’t try to grasp the meaning, feel the complexity.

Penetrate the layers of your experience. Emerge and find the rhythm. Let it penetrate you.

Find richness, look, but don’t cling to it, let go of control, open.

Allow yourself sadness, longing and space.

Let marvel in, look, don’t stop looking. Eyes wide open, open your mouth.

Immerse deeper. Float in your experience.

Feel the energies, their continuous flow.

Encounter Power and Magic.

The life-giving force.

What is hidden.

Introduce yourself.

Come back to the surface.

Care and be playful.

What is hidden. Bartek Arobal Kociemba

26.09.2019-6.01.2020

Muzeum Śląskie / carpentry