SKONSTRUOWANE

NARRACJE
------------------------
CONSTRUCTED
NARRATIVES

BODZOŃ BOROWSKI DOLNY FILIPEK

MENKARSKI KALETA SETLAK ŚWIEŹY
WYSAKOWSKA / WALTERS

TEATR MARTWEJ WYOBRAŹNI, KALWARYJSKA 54, KRAKÓW 17/05/2019

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SPEKTAKL TWORZYLI
---------------------------
THE SPECTACLE WAS
CREATED BY

BODZOŃ BOROWSKI
DOLNY FILIPEK
MENKARSKI KALETA
SETLAK ŚWIEŻY
WYSAKOWSKA / WALTERS

WSPÓŁPRACA
---------------------------
COOPERATION

KRAUZE
PAZERA

POMYSŁ
---------------------------
THE IDEA

WYSAKOWSKA / WALTERS

MIEJSCE
---------------------------
THE PLACE

TEATR MARTWĘJ
WYOBRAŹNI

ZDJĘCIA
---------------------------
PHOTOS BY

ŚWIEŻY

ASP KRAKÓW
WYDZIAŁ
INTERMEDIÓW
PRACOWNIA ANIMACJI
---------------------------
KRAKOW FINE ARTS
ACADEMY
INTERMEDIA FACULTY
ANIMATION STUDIO

2019
 LAST RITES, THE ORIGINAL POSTER DESIGNED BY J. ŚWIEŻY
Experience and narratives are naturally
intertwined. Our existence is built on
experiences, which we may interpret as a flow
of data for our brains to process. Our brains
divide, gather, analyse, make comparisons and
finally store the data as memories. But first,
the incoming experiences have to be interpreted
in a meaningful way. Our minds do this
by constructing narratives.

I am sure you are familiar with a situation where

if you ask three or four people about an incident,
you are bound to get four different versions
of the event. What is more, with time, the number
of versions may increase, as certain areas
of synaptic connection are pruned as a result
of the information economy built into the system.
It would not be fair to say that the people
involved lied or misinterpreted the situation.
Even when each narration contains different
or even conflicting details.

There is no objective truth. Our reality is

negotiated and everything depends on how our
initial experience formed us to interpret reality.
Each of us has a unique life and unique set of
first experiences, all of that influences
the construction of that validating system.
Coming to terms with that puts us in a situation
where we realise how much effort we need to put
into communication and understanding each
other and the world.
With that in mind, in February 2019, I set off
to propose to students of Intermedia at
The Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków
an experiment during which our co-constructed
narratives would serve as building blocks in
an Intermedia Spectacle entitled Last Rites.
There was also another research question
in mind – how to expand the experience
of animated films beyond their on-screen
reception. I wondered if, with minimal use
of technology combined with traditional media
such as drawings, light, text etc, we could
transcend the traditional model of projection
and construct a unique experience for the
viewer. The experiment was set to go in the
Animation Studio at the Intermedia Faculty. The
professor in charge, Marcin Pazera, welcomed
the idea and offered his assistance in the
development of the project.
I feel it is important to list the parameters, we
assumed in the project. Last Rites, which grew

5

out of Constructed Narratives, was an Intermedia
spectacle, which expanded the animated film
to encompass simultaneous actions on location.
Elements such as light, text, sounds, drawings
would appear outside the films in real-time.
All elements would form a cohesive narration
with a clear structure, logic and timeline.
The projected animated films had to use
the stop-motion technique.
As a location, I chose an old attic. It belonged
to Dominik Setlak, who as a theatre director and
an Intermedia artist, envisioned the space as
a place for art actions. Our project was the first
THE ATTIC, TEATR MARTWEJ WYOBRAŹNI
art project developed there. Dominik cleared
part of the attic and made it empty for
the actions to take place. There was, however,
a section which overflowed with bits and bobs.
The attic used to belong to his late grandfather –
an angler, a pigeon keeper and a collector of all
sorts of things. It was a matter of time for us
to realise that the construction of narratives
would take its natural course to tell a story
of Dominik’s grandfather. Each of us went
rummaging through the heaps of left-over
objects trying to single out the ones, which
would be incorporated into the spectacle.
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In other words, the attic, the objects left
by Dominik’s grandfather, helped us
in determining the topic of the spectacle.
The Last Rites turned into a farewell ritual to
a man, whom we did not know. But his objects
led us in our co-constructed narratives. What we
achieved was a version of a relational event
(Dominik’s grandfather life) that provided insight,
understanding and an in-depth reflection over
the man’s life..
You probably wonder what was the guiding idea
for the creation of the animated films. It was
THE PORTRAIT OF SETLAK’S GRANDFATHER FOUND IN THE ATTIC
the story of Sen No Rikyu – The Master of
Masters, who upon learning that he was
to commit hara-kiri, planned the most beautiful
tea party for his friends. His wish was to create
a farewell present – the most perfect and
the most beautiful experience achievable.
The final films were maximum 1 minute long,
but before creating them, as a group,
we inspected the definition of beauty. We used
some experimental techniques to dig deeper
into the essence of our respective definition
of beauty thanks to Sabina Krazue, we showed
us how to build human sound machines. Krazue
demonstrated how a written definition may be
reduced to a single sound, which later in groups
served as a building block in human sound
machines.
As you can see the experimentation happened
in this project on multiple levels – starting from
the creative research and ending up with
the actual spectacle. None of us knew the result
of the project, but he had a structure in place,
which aided our research and work.
Last Rites were demanding.
In the darkness of the attic, people, images and
sounds intertwined. They forced the audience
to follow. They surprised the audience with
unexpected culminations, twists and
heart-breaking moments. The disadvantage of
such Intermedia spectacles is the fact that they
may appear only once, but perhaps it works to
their advantage. Since once they end, we are left
with some photographs and multiple versions of
the event, where the constructed narratives tell
a story about an attic, darkness, life and death.
Wysakowska / Walters, 2019
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OSTATNIE
POŻEGNANIE
---------------------
LAST RITES

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 ASP KRAKÓW
WYDZIAŁ
INTERMEDIÓW
PRACOWNIA ANIMACJI
---------------------------
KRAKOW FINE ARTS
ACADEMY
INTERMEDIA FACULTY
ANIMATION STUDIO

2019