Staring on Saturday, Janek Simon’s multimedia spectacle and installation Bzik Tropikalny [Tropical Madness] will be on display at the National Museum. The work refers to the question of repressed Polish colonialism and is based on Witkacy’s 1921 drama, Metafizyka dwugłowego cielęcia [the Metaphysics of the Two-Headed Calf].
The form of Bzik Tropikalny alludes to the installations of the earliest period of new media, when artists were immediately fascinated by the possibilities of the use of video, and of its manipulation and the subversion of its messages. Nam June Paik once said that without electricity there can be no art, and the adherence to that maxim is unmistakably evident in Bzik Tropikalny, which can be seen in the photographs. To fully experience this spectacle, you will need to get to the National Museum – if you haven’t already been today.