CCA LAZNIA

CCA LAZNIA Garden

The Ars Electronica Garden Gdańsk hosted by ŁAŹNIA Centre for Contemporary Art features *Sensory Orders*, a project organized by Chris Salter and Erik Adigard examining the different *orders* of sense making, taking place under our (current) conditions of extreme precarity and uncertainty. The term *orders* comes from economics and political science and describes the ways in which objects, ideologies or thought patterns are organized and structured. According to the economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek (from who we paraphrase our title from), these orders are “not made by anybody but form themselves.” 25 artists, researchers/scientists, designers, architects and scholars from 15 countries – EU, Japan, China, Latin American, Canada, Australia and others - collectively investigate how the symbolic order of language and culture, the technological order of machines and the organic order of human bodies and natural entities – viruses, plants, animals and the physical-chemical matter of the earth itself – are intertwined with, sense on and affect each other. Where are we as humans in the midst of these orders, some of which we cannot perceive or know, but which are having a major effect on our lives at present? Sensory Orders will take place in three spaces – online, in print, and as a large physical installation in the ŁAŹNIA CCA in Gdańsk, opening on 6 November 2020 and running through 10 January 2021. In line with the research of the *Sensory Orders* will be the presentation of Oswaldo Macia’s work. The artists creates olfactory-acoustic sculptures that have been exhibited all over the world. His work is held in international collections, including Tate Britain and Daros Latinamerica. As he states in his manifesto, Maciá seeks to stimulate questions and counter received opinion. In 2015 Maciá won a major public commission for the city of Bogotá selected by an international jury. Scenario in Construction is the first public sound sculpture of in the southern hemisphere. Adjunct to our investigations in are episodes of Filip Ignatowicz’s *#artUNBOXING* project. These video performances created specifically for YouTube and inspired by the unboxing videos that populate the platform are offered up as ‘refreshments’. The series was inspired by the online video genre of *unboxing*. The premise of these videos is the unpacking of products – usually popular and expensive ones – and then reviewing their appearance and functioning. Most of the time these are telephones, photographic and video cameras, but there also exist unboxing videos of furniture, clothes, and even food. Instead of objects typical for the genre, the artist opens the artworks he purchased, objects signed by artists or exhibition gadgets. At the same time, he commits a performative takeover. Within the multitude of things that can be “unboxed”, Filip Ignatowicz exposes viewers of the format to entirely new objects they had not been familiar with – art objects. Thus, he becomes a pioneer of the *artUNBOXING* genre he has invented. The gesture of unwrapping the package, checking it, and testing the purchased object represents the essence of the performative act. This action forms part of the artist’s long-term project of exploring the boundaries between art and product, consumption and culture. Ignatowicz very often refers to concepts such as McDonaldization, Disneyification, self-commodification and lovemarketing. By taking over elements typical for commercial online spaces, he wants his videos to spark a conversation on the situation of art in consumer societies, while also encouraging the young and very young generations to approach contemporary art. His actions are mainly addressed to the online audience. Subscribe to *artUNBOXING* channel

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