Interviews by D. Dominick Lombardi/Artist, art writer and curator, New

York with Krzysztof Gliszczyński

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/d-dominick-lombardi/repurposing-with-a-passio_b_5582192.html?

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In 2011, when I was writing for the now defunct Shanghai-based publication

Public Art and Ecology, I wrote an article about the global trend toward

repurposing materials in the fine arts. The article was accepted for publication but

the magazine ran into undisclosed difficulties and was unable to publish their

second issue. Since then, the universal trend to repurpose or salvage materials

has grown and I thought it a good time to ‘repurpose’ the article for The

Huffington Post giving these distinctive artists their proper place in the discussion.

Repurposing with a Passion

The process of repurposing materials has immeasurable benefits. There are instinctive, economic, esthetic, philosophical, and even political reasons to recycle, and visual artists are a very big part of this process. In an attempt to bring together compelling examples of this trend, I asked a number of artists from various parts of the world to answer four questions with the hopes of clarifying this ever-increasing phenomenon of repurposing with a passion.

1. What sorts of materials do you recycle in your art, and where do you find

them?

Krzysztof Gliszczynski: Initially, I started using the remains of my own artistic

work – the "leftovers" after my creative process, scratched slivers, layers of a

painting – the remains of painting substance, including pigment, wax, marble

powder, vaporous substances. To be able to reuse that material, I put it into a

water bath. Thanks to the ingredients I applied, the matter melted, so I could use

it again. I added new features to that matter in the melting process thanks to

additions, which were substances related to existence e.g. ash, soot. Usually, that

matter came from my own household; however, later on, I started using material

given to me by my friends. Recently, I have started using other materials, too:

disposable gloves which I use while working, tins-vessels in which I melt the used

material in water bath. In the work "Impressed Memory", I use the paint

scratched off the floor of my family household where I was brought up.

The eye on the finger-tip, object

2015 , perspex, used latex hand

gloves (excerpt)

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2. What specific incident or realization, if any, brought you to incorporate

discarded materials in the making of your art?

In 1992, while I worked on my work "Dialogue with the Absent One" in

Worpswede, I removed the final layer of my painting to reveal the drawing

underneath. The matter spilled onto the floor and that made me reflect. Valuable

material, prepared especially for that painting suddenly became some

unnecessary trash, fated to non-existence. That reminded me of the work of a

room decorator who removes the old layer of paint from the walls.

Since that time on, I have been collecting the remains of my working. Because

they made me realiese how fragile everything we do is, how fragmentary and

elusive. This is the image of what is left behind us.

Urns 1992 – 2015 / 188 x 73,5 x 73,5 cm

“SYNthesis&enERGY”, the ehxibition in the Wozownia

Gallery in Toruń, 2016

3. What message do you hope to send to the viewers of your art in terms of

esthetics and ecology?

My painterly exploration focused, among other things, on the process of destruction of the painterly matter. I was into the issue of colour dematerialization. I was looking for a technique – my own individual means of expression. I decided I would work on a limited series. I changed my painting technology so that I could recycle the paint. Since then, I have exploited painterly matter to the very limits of its capabilities. Once there is no more possibility of further work, I put the remnants of paint into an “Urn”. I use the name

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purposefully, because it underlines the essential meaning of leftovers of painter’s work, but also, ironically enough, relates to the current situation of painting as art. Today, this practice is for me a dialogue I have with Ad Reinhardt’s statement: “I am aware of the fact that I am painting one of my last pictures.” An urn has some characteristics of painting itself, as, naturally, it stems from it, and, at the same time, it proves to be its classical opposition. An urn is precious enough to store remnants left after the process of painting. Or, it is precious enough to be buried with due honours. An urn is grief itself; a strong relation of loss and the desire to regain what has been lost. An elegiac feeling of loss, a feeling that nothing would ever be the same – becomes an inspiration for me. Destruction itself brings a need for order and organization. This is why my “urns” are given numbers and dates (usually relating to the timeframe of the work). Their twofold structure originates from the fact that one is created from the fresh paint located in the boarding and the other one comes from the dry paint and the sediment left on the bottom of a vessel. The degraded substance, a vehicle for compressed creative energy, is the trace and residuum of my creative process.I started to collect scraps of my work because they made me realise how fragile everything we do is, how fragmentary and elusive. This is the image of what is left behind us. We cover everything with layers of unnecessary things and, finally, become dust ourselves making another layer (1992)

“A retour Self - Portrait”, Urns, and Synergic pictures, The laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk

2007

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4. Do you have a political or philosophical agenda?

My latest series "Self-Portrait a'Retour", where the material for the production of

a painting comes as a remains from other works, is becoming independent,

gaining a specific character thanks to its being encapsulated in a series. Thus, the

matter is being transferred from a painting onto a subsequent painting and, then,

back to the original painting, a'retour. It reveals something similar to the fate of

the human-artist. Through the impression of matter, I create a synergetic whole,

composed of three elements: memory, impression as an element of pressure, and

transformation. It tackles the issue of residuum and its significance. The

impression can be considered in ecological terms as a certain type of self-

sufficiency. However, what is more important is the philosophical message, which

touches upon the material and the spiritual. There is a certain dichotomy which

appears between matter itself and the significance it carries – or that which we

give to it. A rejected thing, considered unnecessary has some value within itself,

which we can notice on reusing it. It was in the work "The Impressed Memory"

where I used the materials which were not linked with my creative work for the

first time. Scratched matter from the floor, remains of paint – these are the

residua of a personal existence, imprinted in a baby bathtub.1 This gains both

social and political dimension. The context of the memory comes in between the

personal and the social, so do the empty vs. the full and the internal vs. the

external.

1Krzysztof Gliszczyński Impressed Memory Object (2010), paint scratched off the floor of family household and

paraffin, 18” X 47” X 118” (courtesy of the artist) 深刻 ｜克里斯托弗记忆 · 格里斯任斯基 2010

45×120×300 厘米从住房的地板上刮下来的油漆、石蜡。

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。

激情再利用D. 多米尼克·隆巴迪

1. 在您的 作品中，通常都会循 利用哪些再生材料？您通常是在哪里找到它 的？艺术 环 们2. 您是如何想起来在 作 程中使用 弃材料的？是不是某一特殊的事件或者什么特殊的意 您创 过 废 识让开始 做的？这样3. 在美学以及生 学方面，您希望您的作品能 参 者什么 的 示？态 带给 观 样 启4. 您在政治或者哲学 域有什么打算？领

克里斯托弗·格里斯任斯基在波 索波特 有自己的工作室。他用自己的 来展示 去的灵活性。就像那兰 拥 艺术 过些涂

家一 ，他一 破坏一 作，不同的就在于 密度，以及他添加 去的个人 成分。他通 展鸦艺术 样 边 边创 亲 进 记忆 过望未来放自己的 去，把 看做是一次永 都不可能完全 束的漫无 的 。释 过 艺术 远 结 边际 对话

——格里斯任斯基先生：最初，我都是使用我自己 行 作 剩下来的材料 就是那些 作 程 束之进 艺术创 时 创 过 结后剩下

“ ”——的 角料 比如剩下来的 画材料，包括 料、蜡、大理石粉以及一些易 的物 。 了能够 使边 绘 颜 挥发 质 为 继续用些物 ，我通常会把它 放在恒温槽里。多 了我添加的那些成分， 些 料才能够化开，我才能够这 质 们 亏 这 颜 继使续用。在融化的 程中，由于我添加了别的 西，所以 料就增加了别的特征，会 得跟灰粉和煤烟特别相过 东 颜 变近。最近，我开始在工作中使用一次性手套，我 会把 罐放 恒温槽里来融化使用 的材料。还 锡 进 过1992年，当我在沃普斯 德 作 名 《与缺 者的 》的作品 ，我把油画的最后一 去掉以此来展韦 创 题 为 场 对话 时 层示下面的 画。 料 在地板上， 人深思。特地 那一幅画准 的 重的材料，突然 就成了无用的 物，根本绘 颜 溅 发 为 备 贵 间 废就等于不存在。 我想起那些去除旧 皮的油漆工。从那个 候起，我就开始保留我的作品的剩余物了。这让 墙 时

• —— “幅画的 作 我来 ，其 就是和艾德 莱因哈特的声明之 的一次 他 ： 我意 到， 在正这 创 对 说 实 间 对话 说 识 现画着

”的 幅画是我所能画的最后几幅画中的一幅。一个 子本身具有油画的一些特性， 上，它的源 就是这 坛 实际 头它。与此同 ，它又被 定 是它的古典反相。 子可以用来 存画油画之后的剩余物品。或者，它也可以 着时 认 为 坛 储 带得应的荣誉被深埋地下。一个 子本身就是一 不幸，是 失与重新得到失去的 西的愿望之 牢不可破的坛 场 丧 东 间 联系。一

‘ ’ ——种 失的 西的一种哀挽的感情，那种昨日不再来的感 成了我 作的灵感。破坏本身 来了 秩对丢 东 觉 创 带 对序

“ ”与 的需求。 就是 什么我的 子 都写上日期 了号（通常作品完成的日期）的原因。组织 这 为 坛 编最 重要的就是哲学方面的 示，它既触及到物 也触及到精神。在物 本身及其所承 的重要性之 肯为 启 质 质 载 间定存在

——着一个二分法 或者我 加在它 上的二分法。一件被 没有什么用 从而被 掉的 西，只有当们 们头 认为 处 丢 东我 重们新利用它 才能意 到它内在的价 。 的背景参与到个人与社会中 来，所以空虚 充 ，内在 外时 识 值 记忆 间 对 实 对表。

http://www.krzysztofgliszczynski.com

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