Explorations at Dusk

/ EXPLORATIONS /

/ OF DOGS, ASHES AND WEEDS /

Maya Wolinska
www.maiawolinska.org

Tuesday 20 de December 2022, 19:00h - 20:00h
Centre d'Arts Santa Mònica, Sala Bar
Free entry.

Unveling worlds and orders that exist on the verge of what we usually think is important and worthy of notice. Slow processes in which the past is fossilised and absorbed by earth, ties that cannot be broken but which are reinvented in dreams, the living force of tiny ecosystems found in the urbanized space.

 

  • Strata
    8'59", 2017-2019

    Layers of golden dust that once before were bees and buterflies.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

     

    Hänsel und Gretel / This, what Remains
    15'49", 2014

    In the middle of the city stands a forgotten house with a particular bas-relief above the entrance gate, on it, a couple of children is looking at a house deeply hidden in the forest. Not far from this place there is a real and mysterious forest, full of treasures from the not-so-distant past. Gold and silver glitters in the setting sun, deep in the ground the roots of the trees hide shattered story of the forgotten children. All that remains is slowly being digested by the earth and time.

    Remnants of the past in an Eastern European city. A past that will soon be reduced to a collection of insignificant objects.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

     

    Walking the Dog
    6'23", 2015

    A journey across the subsequent stages of the symbolic relationship between a dog and a human being. A reconstruction of the bond, submission and power. A registration of hidden gestures.

    A dog - an animal that encapsulates the idea of unconditional attachment: a tool of executing power by the authorities; a symbol of prestige and strength; a costly gadget; a surrogate for emotions; a designer's project. Praising and punishing are the foundations of this relationship based on modelling, training and taming.

    Autonomy is intolerable. Escape is out of the question. A stray and uncontrolled dog becomes unwanted waste. A dog is an animal in constant service, driven by its bounden duty.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

     

    We met X
    9'20", 2013

    We met X at an altitude of 19600 ft.
    She had been repeating the same path for days.
    Up and down, up and down, up and down.

    She would wake up in the middle of the night and set off.
    Without haste, always last, she would close the procession.

    Early in the morning, she would stand at the top.
    From there, if the weather was good
    she could embrace the entire horizon.
    All of her land, everything: rocks, glaciers, streams, wind, scorching sun, snow and hail.

    At noon, she would begin to descend.
    Always the last, she kept her distance.
    She waited patiently, if necessary.

    X did not long for contact, she avoided closeness.
    She spent the day curled up in a ball,
    squeezed between the stones.
    She waited for the night.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

     

    Dreaming the Dog
    13'45", 2022

    Dog and human are an inseparable pair in a relationship that lasts for good and bad for centuries. In this relationship, the independent dog's existence disappears because its autonomy in this unequal relationship has no "raison d'être". The autonomous dog becomes a wolf; a danger, a monster, part of untamed nature. It loses its function, it loses our love. The dog, therefore, cannot leave; it can, however, dream.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

     

    Night Shade Bright
    4'45", 2022

    A world of wonders found in a sidewalk. Armed with medicinal flowers and poisonous fruits. Indifferent to our presence.

     

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds

    Of Dogs, Ashes and Weeds