Currently lives and works in: Warsaw/ Lublin (Poland)
Practice: Performance
Barbara Gryka, a young artist from the village of Końskowola (Poland), was born in April 1992. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Faculty of Media Art. In 2019, she graduated from the Studio of Spatial Activities of Mirosław Bałka. She is studying for a doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, in the Studio of Sound Action Space of Katarzyna Krakowiak. In her practice, she deals with performative activities. Her work deals with people, and not necessarily those who deal with art. Her mother Beata taught her these skills. Her favourite activity is talking, she also likes to observe other people, their behaviours, and lifestyles. In ‘Architecture from within’, she visited her neighbours in the LSM district in Lublin. She knocked on their doors and asked for an interview. She plans to continue visiting modernist Polish housing estates. In ‘The Motorcycle Dance’, she led a group of 8 men on motorcycles dancing the Lublin folk dance.
Areas of interest: folklore, spending time together, history, social and political affairs, boredom as a time to relax, tik-tok.
Why are you a part of MagiC Carpets: for the development of his artistic practice, for seeking new friendships, learning.
MagiC Carpets project
Past projects you are proud of
Motorcycle Dance
Type: performance, video installation
Colourful dresses and corsets adorned with trinkets, artificial flowers tucked into the hair, ribbons, embroidery, beads and pristine white lace, colourful singing and lively dance, the roar of engines, high speeds, grease, smoke, the smell of petrol and hot asphalt, leather jackets and protective helmets.
“Motorcycle Dance” is a combination of opposing environments: city and countryside, as well as motorisation and traditional culture. Barbara Gryka prepared a choreography based on the Lublin folk dance, which was recreated by motorcyclists. The individual manoeuvres of the vehicles correspond to the movements taken from the figures of folk dances. The four-channel video projection is complemented by an in-situ installation, consisting mainly of recycled materials.
The performance was attended by: Kasia Dados, Marek Jęczeń, Tomek Jęczeń, Damian Jóźwiak, Rafał Autocholik Michalczak, Paweł Niamita, Jasiek Smaga and Wojciech, Emilia Lipa.
What do you think is the purpose of art?
Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on Earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on Earth
Ooh heaven is a place on Earth
♬ ♫ ♪ ♬ ♫ ♪
When the night falls down
I wait for you And you come around
And the world’s alive
With the sound of kids
On the street outside
♬ ♫ ♪ ♬ ♫ ♪
When you walk into the room
You pull me close and we start to move
And we’re spinning with the stars above
And you lift me up in a wave of love…
Contacts
Emal: [email protected] | Phone: +48 572142672 | Instagram | For more artistic archives please see here