Savages. New Art form Silesia

Marta Lisok – author of the book.
Savages. New Art from Silesia in english.
Academy of Fine Art in Katowice, 2014
first presentation of the book – Katowice, 2015

Marta Lisok, Capturing Moments of Materials’ Fatigue

and interview

I like to see materials change (fragment)

Marta Lisok: What is journey to you?
Michał Smandek: Not having returned from one journey yet, I already start thinking greedily about the next one. So it’s like addiction. An addiction, thanks to which I’m able to learn more about myself, like the fact that I can do better than I assumed, and if I can’t, then at least I build up confidence I will do better in the future. We develop ourselves thanks to travel. I live more when travelling. If possible, I avoid trails crowded with tourists. I rather seek my own paths and I aim at testing my abilities. For me, the combination of travel and art is a perfect balance. One generates the other. In travel, I seek for an explorer spirit, and today this geographical discovering is already very difficult, if not impossible, as you can get to know everything from home, before you depart. On the one hand, this means greater awareness and safety, but on the other, how less exquisite the adventure becomes. Art enables me to explore this world once more, my way. And, as I have already mentioned once, to be able to tag a place ‘mine’ I must interfere with it. I leave a trace, a stamp, a flag, and only then may I take down the coordinates and name the place.
Marta Lisok: What do you mean by the statement, ‘we live more when travelling’?
Michał Smandek: I like to roam. Even when it’s not possible at some point, I feel the urge to move further from where I am at that time. Just take one more step, over the hill, across another border. I admit that this is a form of an escape from everyday living. For me in particular, this breakaway is so powerful I lose the track of time, and the names of the days of the week often no longer mater. We act different. When travelling, we test ourselves in various situations. And therefore we gradually begin to get to know ourselves: how we react, how we think, if we are open–minded, whether we have the not only physical stamina, if we can get excited, get organised, and whether we can act as part of a team, and on our own. Travel allows you to directly compare what you already know with what is new. It broadens your awareness, refreshes your views on certain matters. There is also the area connected with the mixture of feelings, enthusiasm and excitement, fear, absent–mindedness and focus, full commitment. It’s just a very intense experience.