Enthusiasm

As an artist my collaborative work with Marysia Lewandowska has moved away from the production of objects as art, and closer to a ‘socially engaged’ art practice. Research is central to how we practice.

‘Enthusiasm’ was a major solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; co-produced with Kunst Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin and the Tapies Foundation, Barcelona. The exhibition consists of three installed 'cinemas' entitled Love, Longing and Labour, each with hour-long film programmes curated from found, restored and digitized amateur films; films made by factory workers in Poland under socialism, a recreated film-makers 'club house', and a growing ‘Archive Lounge’ of films found but not screened.

Two years of primary research amongst the remnants of Amateur Film Clubs in Poland uncovered a reservoir of creative production; excluded from ‘official' institutions of culture. These film makers invert the logic of work and leisure, becoming truly productive when pursuing their passions, and using work for their own rather than the factory or states intentions. Through exhibition, ‘Enthusiasm’ explored the phenomena of enthusiasm as a resource for contemporary culture and its reproduction.

• http://www.chanceprojects.com/node/27