LAGOON / scenographies from previous exhibitions, inflatable pools, food / 2019

  Groszowe Sprawy & Biennale Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland,1–2 Jun 2019, curator: Maja Demska, photo: Monika Stolarska, Kasia Balicka  more info  /  video documentation

   Sunbeds, blankets and a lot of plastic. Adults, children and dogs. From a bird's eye view, the Namysłowska Bazaar looks like a picnic on a city beach - the market spills every weekend over the former outdoor swimming pool complex. Vendors hang goods on blue concrete mushrooms and drinkers, customers rest on the edge of an empty trough. A mesh fence separates the bazaar from the building of the indoor swimming pool - the last active object of the Namysłowska center.

   From the street perspective it is less idyllic. There is a conflict on Namysłowska: supporters of the bazaar versus supporters of the pool. The former signed petitions against the relocation of the market, when it was announced a few years ago that the outdoor pools would be renovated and reopened. The latter believe that wild trade on the ruins of the swimming pool is a shame for the district, and they are eagerly awaiting the modernization subsidy promised by the town hall.

   Now let's try to imagine that it is possible to combine conflicting interests - at least for one day. Make everyone's dreams come true, even if they seem naive or absurd. It is a strategy of action close to Marta Krześlak, an artist who inserts a large, sagging inflatable castle from OLX into the gallery, and from the waste of polyurethane foam creates a sculpture-monument for a fading, dying coral reef.

   On Children's Day, Marta Krześlak invites you to the Lagoon. The terrace of the Namysłowska Swimming Pool Complex, which is closed on a daily basis, will be open to regulars of the Namysłowska Bazaar. The stairs to the terrace are the only (usually closed) gate in the maze of wire mesh separating neighboring areas. What did Marta Krześlak build on the terrace? I know, but I won't say - come and see for yourself. Preferably in flip-flops and a bathing suit.