Edition 4

The project by the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Gronowo Górne entitled “Why do we need the film after all?” is an inspirational concept that touches on the students’ post-pandemic emotions. The young artists were spurred to action and activism by their reflections after meeting Paweł Łoziński and the group watching of his outstanding documentary titled “The Balcony Film”, in which the author observes passers-by and neighbours from the eponymous balcony of his flat in Warsaw’s Saska Kępa district.

 

Collaborative work on the project started at the school with a digital presentation of the concept, the idea, the possible ways of implementation, as well as the expected outcome and its dissemination. The invitation was accepted by the 2nd and 3rd grade students, tutors and a teacher assisting in the project implementation. The project was implemented in two ways: remote group consultations via Teams and a workshop held in the school’s studio. This was followed by a trial workshop on using a printing plate: theoretical and practical part; students’ trial productions, taking into account technological pitfalls, independent printmaking works, trial prints, and technological commentary by the teacher conducting the project.

 

Artistic printmaking practice is very much about memorisation through experience. The young people discovered further inspirations to convey their own visual messages in line with the idea and concept suggested in the project title: “Why do we need the film after all”? The meeting accompanying the screening of “Anything Can Happen” by Marcel Łoziński was a foretaste and a chance to gather knowledge about documentary storytelling, the art of using limited artistic means, the art of asking questions while breaking down barriers and reluctance in intergenerational conversation. The film was as a starting point for careful watching and listening.

 

 

 

A meeting with Paweł Łoziński and screening of “The Balcony Film” documentary

 

 

 

A meeting with Paweł Łoziński and screening of “The “Balcony Film” documentary

 

The subsequent project activities diverged towards the culmination, i.e. the screening of “The Balcony Film” and a meeting with the filmmaker Paweł Łoziński. January and the beginning of February 2023 were the months of printmaking activities, and those were already characterised by more confidence and awareness and, most importantly, more independence. Concepts started to emerge; the preparation and printing of self-portraits switched to a higher gear of certainty and gained more graphical definition. The meeting at the cinema on 7 February marked the closing of the idea elaboration and design cycles; the concepts took off. It was a moment of verbal references to the themes addressed in the film, a search for a sketched response to the tribulations that marred the times of the pandemic. The weeks leading up to the exhibition were filled with designing and work with a printing plate in the school studio and at home. The workshop was available regardless of place and time, which gave the participants a sense of security and genuine agency.

 

As the project’s final date was approaching, the creation of a catalogue, a text of the commentary and a digital conceptualisation of the multimedia presentation commenced. Everything was designed for the viewer’s convenience: from the opportunity to admire the framed graphics, access the catalogue, touch the original print, to the viewing of multimedia at the viewer’s discretion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students created prints using linocut and drypoint techniques, and the final stage of the project involved the display of arranged stories in the form of a digital moving image in a public space. The students had the opportunity to present their work outside the school walls to the local community: residents of the village and surrounding areas, school students, parents, visitors during Museum Night 2023 and at the hospital in Elbląg, a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The printmaking efforts bore fruit in the form of an exhibition of the original prints on paper, showcased at the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Gronowo Górne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The project involved classical art education in artistic printmaking that went beyond the school core curriculum. The students met a filmmaker, presented their works to the local community, learnt printmaking and work using a project method.

Katarzyna Swoińska, the teacher conducting the project  

 

 

 

 

Katarzyna Swoińska – teacher of artistic printmaking at the secondary school of fine arts. Keen on graphic arts in theory and practice, as well as bookbinding and paper art.

Samira Arrami – teacher of drawing and painting in public spaces.