Do everything that you can with what you have...
Eat the rich, but not your local middle-class artist.
Do everything that you can with what you have
Do everything that you can in the time you have
Do everything that you can in the place you are
After watching last week another show of Florentina Holzinger Page and Krzysztof Leon Dziemaszkiewicz - KLD’s performance (whom both I admire a lot), I had an annoying bar conversation full of contempt towards artists and their audience. I heard that the supposedly pretentious show of Holzinger is for spoiled rich people and Dziemaszkiewicz is not any better than some kind of weird porn. I just said that I prefer to buy a ticket instead of getting f*cked up in the bar as for me it’s a better stimulus. And anyway, everyone is free to choose so why need to judge?
The reason why I genuinely enjoy their performance is that they are not only visually intriguing but also resonate with my inner side. Something haunting is about Leon's naked soul. I feel a rebellious Slavic connection with him. With Holzinger's last piece - I need to be honest - I was a bit disappointed - as it felt a bit empty to me compared to the 3 others that I saw before. But mind me - maybe I am getting spoiled? I am still impressed by how she influenced my ways of seeing.
The people who attend Holzinger’s show are like me and you, us - we are not rich at all - rich people are certainly somewhere else! Richer people go to see Rammstein and they are still not rich. Factually rich people screw all of us and this is where the contempt should go. Making fun of a bunch of hipsters is not making it any better - in fact, it only reveals a lot of insecurity - making fun of other people in general… but I am not a saint - I am a bit more moderate I guess. By the way, I wonder what the working-class audience would say to these naked pranks...
Also making fun of other artists that at least try is again in my eyes an act of envy. There is no need to praise them but with true self-confidence, there is also no need to diminish them. Sure having an opinion is better than not having any but it should rather reveal how something makes you feel instead of comments about someone’s privilege or popularity…Privilege is not a bad thing if you use it for a good reason! It’s actually kind of an opportunity and if used well - other people can benefit from it. Thinking of Holzinger as an Austrian artist from a rich, European country does not cancel her valuable contribution - which is breaking feminine stereotypes and taboos. She’s not selling the commercial “Hollywood” lie and her shows are undoubtedly extraordinary. She does everything that she can with what she has. It’s inspiring. You like it or not!
“All improvement in the domain of politics should derive from the refinement of character - but how can character be refined under a barbaric state order? One would need to find a tool suited to this task that the state does not possess and with it open up sources that, for all political corruption, would remain pure and honest… this tool is fine art. [...] Art, like science, is absolved from all that is positive and that human convention has introduced; both enjoy an absolute immunity from human capriciousness. The political legislator can bar the way to its domain, but he cannot rule with it. He can despise the friend of truth, but truth prevails; he can humiliate artists, but he cannot falsify art.” Friedrich von Schiller
As I was always anti-mainstream - I am becoming a bit skeptical about raising the “cult” around her as I will never have any gods (except a divine goddess). I see it as a big challenge to any kind of artist - a test of mettle. She needs to stay with herself and avoid being dependent on praise. Let’s see how she deals with her success and if she is able to stay committed to herself no matter the audience’s expectations. For example - because of the explicit exposure of naked bodies in her pieces, nudity became kind of invisible to me - I am curious about the next mental scheme or taboo in my head I am expecting her to break.
I really do believe fame is a burden rather than a privilege - it’s fans’ entitlement to an artist's delivery of always more stimulating new creations. A creation is not a product, it’s an act that needs authenticity. To stay authentic, an artist needs to not care about her reception.
“How does the artist shield himself from the corruptions of his age that surround him? By disdaining its judgment. [...] Live with your century, but do not be its creature. Serve your contemporaries but give them what they need, not what they praise.” Friedrich von Schiller
Hi, I am Joanna Szproch, a middle-aged woman, a mother of an adult daughter, and an empiricist, and thinker. I am from Generation X, I was born and lived in communist Poland, experienced its transformation, and more than a decade ago I left to become a Berlin resident. Here is where I create, teach, and explore the mystery of life. I launched this channel to share my subjective observations and conclusions, that may be right, or not. This may be a good background for understanding my artistic practice, a place for a dialog, or perhaps another beginning point for us to create something new. I have a deep need to share my position without proving it right and I will be glad if it resonates with you. If it doesn’t please don’t follow.