Sculpture
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Anna Frąckowicz’s Soft Sculptures: Dichotomy, the Way to Full Expression.
The term ‘soft sculpture’ was coined around 1970 in a reference to spatial forms made of fi bre or other media, which retained the characteristics of fabric. The 70’s marked a pinnacle in worldwide achievements in the fi eld of artistic fabric, as seen since 1962 at the biennales of Lausanne. The term ‘fabric’ was long categorised by the criterion of intertwinement, but gradually, a wave of bold experiments led to the broadening of the term. Presently, ‘fabric’ refers to forms, the structure of which have been created in a process of arbitrary merging or binding. Subsequently, fabrics have shed their constricting corset of thread. A wide variety of techniques, such as unorthodox binding or harde-ning of elements have become acceptable. Objects which have been created in these ways stress the importance of form and the associations it can bring.
For Anna Frąckowicz, man is the direct source of inspiration: “…the circle of life and the mystery of human existence.” A careful analysis of her works reveals a multi-fold dichotomy.
Frąckowicz’s creations are shadows of feelings and emotions, but at the same time they are also the equivalent of someone’s presence. They are a shadow and a mark at the same time. A frozen pose, a gesture or a motion hint at human downfall, but might also be interpreted as a moment of liberation, an act of pathos. While feeling the drama or tragedy, one can still hope for a change. A premonition of unwanted death, the necessity of departure is instantly balanced with anticipation of a new beginning. These critical states of a singular person, turned into fi gures created by Frąckowicz, gain the status of a generational symbol. Three dimensional visual objects are accompanied by notes representing a record of thoughts and emotions related to the process of creation. The dichotomy in the artist’s creations refl ects John Dewey’s philosophical theory. According to Dewey, human existence is marked with an inseparable trace of uncertainty and persistence. These categories do not create new divisions, but rather remain an integral part of every action.
Frąckowicz relies on strings of fl ax fi bre to create her human forms. Sparsely sketched, quite often with numerous gaps, they seem to represent an enigmatic ersatz of somebody’s presence and a fl icker of memory, a memento of a once close relationship. Silence provides refuge for trauma and despair. Tamed, fi lled with hope, they will face the New and blissfully submerge in the future. The artist’s human forms are themed variations of the same subject, while the brushstrokes and patches of colour can be searched for in vain in the fl ax fi bre fi gures. These elements are non-existent and irrelevant. What matters is the overall impression, the enveloping drama of human existence. If one applies the division of artists into four distinct categories refl ecting the choice of artistic medium: the sensual, technological, archaeological and ecological, then Frąckowicz will fall into the sensual and partly into the technological. The sensual category accentuates immanent features of the artistic medium. We can thus distinguish oblong strands of fl ax fi bre which mark the skeleton of the artwork. Without making any analogy with human anatomy, these strands resonate with a dramatic echo of the inner structure of the human body. We are given hints of knots of muscles, imaginary ganglions of nerves or arteries. The frozen fi gures let us perceive the inimitable, the intangible: pain, suffering, the mystery of death and pining for love and rebirth.
The subject and imagery of death have long been evolving in the art of Western Europe, favouring, until the end of the 13th century, death’s victory and triumph over humankind. The literature that follows is as abundant as the procession of generations emerging from the dawn of written accounts of
civilization. That’s why I’ll limit myself to referring to two facts only. In various parts of Europe, human fi gures were used in chanting incantations to death. It is believed that the beginning of the 15th century saw the fi rst signs of a new, bold approach to the concept of life and death. Contrary to earlier representations, a book entitled “The Bohemian Ploughman” praises love’s triumph over death. The book’s infl uence was limited to the social elite but lasted until the 17th century, suggesting the long term success of the eternal dream of immortality. 15th century art discovered an individual dimension to human death, its drama and alienation. Recent attitudes to death can be best summarised by the following quotation: “Spontaneously occurring life processes have been well studied and documented. They are easily disrupted and their lifespan is fi nite. When the right moment comes
they cease and what once was alive, be it a leaf, rose or human body, dies. Life holds no mystery other than chemical and biological disintegration. Death can only be viewed as a mystery when one tries to comprehend it by putting oneself in the very moment of it.”
Frąckowicz’s creations ask questions directed not at the recently fashionable cult of the body, but that are directed at human fl esh and the spiritual aspect of human existence. The Rev. Józef Tischner asks: “What is human fl esh? It possesses a dramatic quality, enabling humans to participate in the
dream of life. (…) So, what is human fl esh, anyway: is it doom incarnated or an incarnation of promise?” The art of Anna Frąckowicz is situated between two extremes of human existence. Frank and sincere, it strives towards a balance and entirety. It is like a buckle clasping two ends of one object.
Łódź, December 2006
Aleksandra Mańczak
Bibliography:
1. Anna Frąckowicz, an unpublished text, 2006
2. Krystyna Wilkoszewska, Art as a Rhythm of Life. A Reconstruction of John Dewey’s Philosophy of Art. Universitas Kraków, 2003
3. Romuald Bochyński, Problems with Artistic Media.
4. Michel Vovelle, Death in the Western Civilization. Słowo/Obraz, Gdańsk 2004
5. Simon Blackburn, Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics. Rebis, Poznań 2002
6. Rev. Józef Tischner. Thoughts in the Element of Beauty. Znak, Kraków 2004
Fragment of a review of Anna Frąckowicz’s artistic output, submitted in connection with fi rst degree qualifying proceedings opened by the board of the Faculty of Fashion and Fabric at Władysław Strzemiński’s Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, 2003.
Anna Frąckowicz is a multidirectional artist and although diverse, her artistic output is characterised by stylistic uniformity. The artist chooses soft media for her creations. Her sculptures, hardened with a binder, retain a fl uidity of lines and an impression of softness. They are willing to yield to the sculptor’s hands, which marks them with evanescence. The artist’s initial creations, dating back to the early 90’s, echo with a careful study of human anatomy. They represent people frozen in mid action, fl exing their muscles for the moment, but soon it appears the moment has turned into an eternity. The soft medium is stiffened and loses its malleability. The fi gures last as do photographs taken in the wind. The lightness of fl ax fi bres used to create the pieces, at times showing strong associations with the bandages wrapping mummifi ed corpses, may illustrate critical situations, processes frozen in time.
The textural features of the sculptures indicate dampness. The fi gures seem to have been taken out of a bath and left to dry. The formal ‘dampness’ of the artist’s structures constitutes their integral part, and is a result of the choice of the artistic medium and the binder. When the sculptures indicate human fi gures only, they interact with their relief surface and allude to the concrete. The artist’s spatial compositions are laden with a cargo of emotions: “The process of creation constantly drives me to a border: meetings – farewells, silence – screams, anger – terror.” The sculptures are creations of a dichotomy of meaning . Their inborn duality contradicts shapes, confi rms structure, joins and divides moods, reverberates and remains still. These structures demand freedom of the wind and at the same time become a frozen substance. They scream and keep still in silence, as if in anticipation of a beckoning gesture from a creator, a gesture which would breathe in life, set them in motion, let them leave. When put together they seem to spark off associations of a passing or fl eeting encounter. The artist’s later organic forms tend to steer towards abstraction. Her sculptures from the late 90’s are more symbolic, more synthetic. This symbolism of forms imposes on the eye of the beholder an impression of changeability and mobility. Frąckowicz’s sculptures are works with two spaces: the outer and the inner. Their innards and open work gaps embrace air. Each work speaks in the language of fl ax fi bres, which easily transcends boundaries, creates fl uid shapes and charges the composition with dynamism. The artist uses her medium to a good end. The fi bres, which weave spontaneously on the surface of a structure, defi ne its insides. It is as if the overfl owing contents of a receptacle themselves became a container, the outside became the inside.
Prof. Anna Goebel – Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, 2003
