Andrzej ŚWIETLIK (ur. 1951, Złotów)

THE TENTH MUSE

2002/2014
pigment print, Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315 g,
80 x 100 cm (90 x 110 cm),
signed, dated and described on the reverse,
edition: 3/9 + 2 a.p.

The work is a sum of Świetlik`s several fascinations, notably those with photography and its potential for experimentation. Świetlik names Eadweard Muybridge, László Moholy-Nagy and Zbigniew Dłubak among his main sources of inspiration. The magic of the motion pictures was another inspiration for the work, having stirred up the artist`s imagination since his childhood. As he himself declares: "In the cinema, there is the screen and the audience, the film and the viewers, the picture on the screen and that among the viewers. Emotions from the screen evoke a corresponding response in the audience. I was once intrigued by the relationship. My idea was to capture in a single picture the range of responses from the audience evoked by comedy, drama, horror movies etc. Women in the cinema. Without them, there would be no tear-jerking romantic films... or no films whatsoever."
The photograph was made in a completely dark cinema theatre. The figures of the three models were lit with an electric torch. After "lighting" one person, the artist went on to another, with the former moving to the next free seat, and so on until the last seat in the last row. The entire process lasted as long as an average film, that is 100 minutes.
The photograph has been featured at several shows of the Łódź Kaliska group.


estimate: 6000 - 8000 zł