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Everything about the contemporary is panda

In his book The Protean Self: Human Resilience in the Age of Fragmentation R.J. Lifton refers to the fragmentation of identity of the contemporary man. The solitary pandas which used to occupy considerably large habitats on their own, were unable to mate as these habitats became separated due the China’s modernisation. Their world became fragmented.

However, the pandas are not as ‘fluid’ or adjustable as Lifton claim the human to be. They found their biological niche through a genetic mutation in the spine, which allowed them to sit comfortably. Bamboo, their primary food source, is poor in nutrients and has to be eaten 16 hours a day, due to which their libido has remained particularly low.

The development of the panda reserve in China has become almost a sort of governmentality experiment. Originally, outbursts of aggression of the wild pandas kept at the man-made reserve were subdued with force. Only later, the violence of those in power was replaced with another method. Now, the pandas which are already extinct in the wild, a museums piece, are provided with an abundance of food and different forms of entertainment. They live in so-called ‘panda villas’, where they are looked after by guards, psychologists, veterinarians and fan groups. The majority of procreation occurs through artificial insemination. The newly out of labour mothers are happy to give their babies away for a bowl of honey. The pandas have become docile and domesticated.

For Martychowiec, the panda has become a significant symbolic element since 2016. It functions on several levels and throughout many different areas of human activity: politics, culture, conservation, ecology, but most importantly as a symbol of the contemporary man intertwined within the power structures which mould him/her to their benefit.

The panda is the most reappearing element, as it follows modes of existence of the spectator and most importantly pivotal moments of art history, whereas the other elements become interwoven comments on contemporary human conditions. This project is in a very direct discourse to two other bodies of work: The incredulity of St Thomas (where Thomas becomes a somewhat symbol of the spectator) and Josephine (where the rabbit Josephine becomes an existential symbol in opposition to the panda).

– 2016

Panda contemplating the black square

(2016) ceramic, chromogenic print, dimensions variable

Everything about the contemporary is panda

(2016) HD Video 00:10:29

Object left unattended - a road mine

(2015) a metal can, photographic print on recycled paper

art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec

Everything about the contemporary is panda: Peace Pipe

(2016) Wooden display with various objects: cigarettes, matches, metal plaque, 50x40x6 cm

art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec

Everything about the contemporary is panda: Piero Manzoni 1961

(2016) stone plate, recycled panda excrements 47x34x3 cm

art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec

Everything about the contemporary is panda

(2016) plastic bin, speaker, archival sound recording 45x28x28 cm

Everything about the contemporary is panda

(2017) chromogenic prints, dimensions variable

art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec

Everything about the contemporary is panda

(2017) chromogenic print 40x60 cm

art by Michal Martychowiec
art by Michal Martychowiec

the historic level

(2017) neon, ceramic, marking pen

Shred of Turin

(2018)  wooden Go board, printed cotton cloth, cracked glass panel 29x44x47 cm

Sur la plage

(2019) ceramic, polyester shorts, nipple stickers, glass crystals

After 'Wanderer above the Sea of Fog'

(2020) chromaluxe print on aluminium, glass, various objects 48x44x4 cm

Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions

(2020) plastic bin, incense 32x23x23 cm

After Georges Bataille. What remains, however?

(2021) chromaluxe print on aluminium, book, pigment print, glass crystals 48x44x5 cm