Ryugyong Hotel

The nature of works created by Janek Simon is experimental and anarchic. They are prototypes, scale models or complex electronic systems manufactured on the basis of the DIY principle. They reflect the dissonance between utopian assumptions and their brutal realisation. One of the works alluding to that issue is the object Hotel Ryugyong – a model of a high-rise hotel located in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The Plexiglas model represents the 105-storey construction that, being 330 m tall and with 360 000 m² floorage, dominates the panorama of the city and is the biggest and the tallest building in the country.

The skyscraper that had been unfinished for years remained a utopian illusion and was regarded as a visual metaphor of the Korean system, symbol of possibilities being overgrown by aspirations and an ominous monument to the totalitarian regime. At the same time Janek Simon showed the schizophrenic nature of the Korean dictatorship, which introduces capitalist luxury – officially prohibited by communist ideology – to a country torn by hunger and poverty.

Janek Simon (b. 1977) – creates objects, scale models, interactive installations, computer games, videos; organises art actions. Studied psychology and sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He draws inspiration from popular culture, science, postcolonial theory and economy; raises the issue of universalism and artificial intelligence.

The artist's works combine motifs coming from various ethnic traditions, like Polish, Indian or Caucasian.

His works are in the collections of Bunkier Sztuki, MOCAK, Museum of Art in Łódź, National Museum in Gdańsk, to name a few.