Agata Sznurkowska was born in Gdańsk, Poland, and recently graduated from Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam. A bad sleeper, yet a good dreamer— she is interested in facts, fun and a combination of these. These identities become crystalized in her installations, objects, sounds and moving image works. Through her practice, Agata aims to navigate the absurdities of globalized, late capitalist reality, exploring the contrast between internalized suspicion towards positivity and the urge for hope and resolution. Employing a combination of analog and digital image making methods, she seeks to relate to the outside world departing from the innate desire for warmth while maintaining critical distance.
Reading On Voice | Paracetamol Zero w/Nadine Ghandour
Together with Nadine Ghandour we co-hosted a reading group relating to the theme of Voice, having chosen Jeff Dolven’s Take Care and Sally O’Reilly’s The Ambivalents. The books respond to the 1986 catalogue for Braintree Scientific, an American company manufacturing lab products for experiments on rodents. With the event we launched Paracetamol Zero - a collaborative project, where we investigate literature and publishing surrounding topics of medicine, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industry.
Sleepover for Insomniacs
As an anxious person, I struggle to fall asleep in the night. As a self-proclaimed pragmatic, I appreciate solution-oriented approach. As someone recently trained in the arts, but moreover - an undercover idealist, I believe in the power of community. Departing from these postures, Sleepover for Insomniacs - a communal overnight stay at WORM’s Slash gallery filled with a sleep-inducing program - came to life. Participants were invited to unapologetically have sleeping problems together.
The More You Think, The More You Know, The More It Happens
Having invited Nadine Ghandour, Manon Malan and Su Yang to collaborate, I coordinated a group exhibition showcasing artists’ approaches towards wellness, (self-)soothing and care, and their commodification. While preserving scepticism towards consumerist ways of achieving satisfaction, I tried to believe that happiness (contentment?) is not a lie. Artworks I featured included a loudly calming video loop and relaxing sleeping masks and pillows with embroidered short writings.
Onderling
A group exhibition curated by Geertje Brandenburg and Ellis Veth, with works by Jurel Bakker, Charmaine de Heij, Carmen Molenaar, Stan Molenaar, Eva Sijstermans, Luka Slijkerman, Elise van Staveren and Jan Timmers.