Hydro-Electric Installation

The installation consists of a basin with water (placed, ordinarily, on the floor by the artist) and a glowing light bulb hanging over it on a wire. Inside the basin, there is a sign: “Hydro-electric installation” together with a signature and a date. The work originated in Radzimowice, the artist's home back then, and was inspired by a plumber's failed job, who advised the artist to place a bowl under a leak and illuminate the unfortunate spot in order to know when to pour the water out. The artist admits that the inspiration also came from the unusually complex artistic installations that were appearing in Polish art at the time. Thus, by contrast, he wanted to create something rudimentary and simple, which could serve as a model for any kind of artistic installation. Hence, the artist's dream for the work to be placed, as a model, in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres near Paris. Among other things, the artist links the piece with his decision to abandon painting. In no way would this abandoning be for the sake of installation, but rather, abandoning through a belief that the traditional artistic means had been exhausted; the times of the socio-political turning point must have clearly demanded questioning the status quo. [A. Markowska]