Refuge

Artists Marcin Mierzicki
Genre Installation
Edition Survival 8

The installation entitled ‘Refuge’ was actually a negation of all the positive aspects of this term. An abandoned, destroyed shakedown was situated in a place which could hardly be identified even with a substitute of intimacy or real shelter. Lying on bare concrete, partially burnt or covered with an unidentifiable substance, the sleeping bag was placed in the middle of the room, in contrast to the standard ideas about the organisation of such shelters. A perceptible terror – in conjunction with sadness – trig­gered speculations about the fate of the unknown owner of these miserable possessions. The need of providing oneself with safety makes people in extreme, inhuman conditions look for hidden places, walled off by natural barriers and obstacles. Here, the uncovered, immediately accessible makeshift bed showed a tragic moment of giving up all defence, told about the state of uttermost helplessness and accepting one’s fate. The work emanated an aura of threat, which is born on the edge – in a place tainted with failure, loss, hopelessness.

 

photo: Justyna Fedec