https://gabrielacygan.com gabrielacygan.com Thu, 27 Nov 2025 21:53:42 +0000 https://gabrielacygan.com en https://gabrielacygan.com/Home-Image-Scroll Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:56:55 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Home-Image-Scroll <img width="3640" height="2609" width_o="3640" height_o="2609" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ab799106418daf8d7b9df450815d40e965db7301ffe43f72cb1d48cb908e76c/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_III_2020.jpg" data-mid="206387472" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ab799106418daf8d7b9df450815d40e965db7301ffe43f72cb1d48cb908e76c/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_III_2020.jpg" /> <img width="1102" height="986" width_o="1102" height_o="986" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/218dda7fcba12fb6071509b57f3ec9ecb4791eece6447aa515178d7a7b052a9d/Screen-Shot-2022-09-26-at-19.25.23.png" data-mid="206386260" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/218dda7fcba12fb6071509b57f3ec9ecb4791eece6447aa515178d7a7b052a9d/Screen-Shot-2022-09-26-at-19.25.23.png" /> <img width="978" height="1172" width_o="978" height_o="1172" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ddf4d4da11c4b2160db535092e905b5f4a4be7f2c6728ec9687e70247cfa2973/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_I_2019.jpg.jpg" data-mid="206387289" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/978/i/ddf4d4da11c4b2160db535092e905b5f4a4be7f2c6728ec9687e70247cfa2973/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_I_2019.jpg.jpg" /> <img width="1184" height="844" width_o="1184" height_o="844" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/06062ebb6b049531e404091e663e30fe9bdc1dea3ab22ef13ecfb23bf5b50fbf/Screen-Shot-2022-09-26-at-19.25.11.png" data-mid="206387470" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/06062ebb6b049531e404091e663e30fe9bdc1dea3ab22ef13ecfb23bf5b50fbf/Screen-Shot-2022-09-26-at-19.25.11.png" /> <img width="824" height="1216" width_o="824" height_o="1216" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f8922f85de27586942ca47183d0aa540ef868f374bee79c6c77bf0554efef7f/dziewczyna-INSTA.jpg" data-mid="206387849" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/824/i/5f8922f85de27586942ca47183d0aa540ef868f374bee79c6c77bf0554efef7f/dziewczyna-INSTA.jpg" /> <img width="2774" height="2355" width_o="2774" height_o="2355" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/065622940e3247fb6c19877b58e76c1a24ffad1e6b4d05cd12d1950d6ff66cdc/_DSC0983-2.JPG" data-mid="206387845" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/065622940e3247fb6c19877b58e76c1a24ffad1e6b4d05cd12d1950d6ff66cdc/_DSC0983-2.JPG" /> https://gabrielacygan.com/My-body Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:56:56 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/My-body My body, still too heavy with sleep to move (...) “I awoke like this, and my mind struggled in an unsuccessful attempt to discover where I was, everything would be moving round me through the darkness: things, places, years. My body, still too heavy with sleep to move, would make an effort to construe the form which its tiredness took as an orientation of its various members, so as to induce from that where the wall lay and the furniture stood, to piece together and to give a name to the house in which it must be living.(...)” Marcel Proust, Du côté de chez Swann <img width="3640" height="2609" width_o="3640" height_o="2609" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0413b570fc846cbaf9748d252d73fe9e8f376c75275d9b3fe7a310beaa1659be/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_III_2020.jpg" data-mid="206391916" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0413b570fc846cbaf9748d252d73fe9e8f376c75275d9b3fe7a310beaa1659be/cygan_gabriela_My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_III_2020.jpg" /> My body, still too heavy with sleep to move III, oil on canvas, 135 x 90 cm, London, 2020&nbsp; &nbsp; "My body, still too heavy with sleep to move" shows a lifeless crowd submerges in a coma. Unable to act, the characters freeze inside shapeless visions, where truth and hallucination blur.Gabriela practices traditional oil painting, using it to illustrate the fears of contemporary Western culture. The restrained style of her works and the simplicity of the means used correspond to the poverty and deficiency accompanying us. The monumental format of the paintings enhances the impression of claustrophobia and overwhelm. The author draws inspiration from Spanish painting of the 17th and 18th centuries, simultaneously subjecting them to a critical interpretation. She refers to documentary and realism trends, further emphasizing the social and political aspects of her works. She pays great attention to details, which determine the final shape of the image. Elements of everyday life taken out of context describe the helplessness and stupefaction of the contemporary individual, forced to move blindly in a makeshift, unstable system. <img width="978" height="1172" width_o="978" height_o="1172" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e552f2a097734939fc7b306f598055276dcbadd3ff5e74af62217e584a8c5fd2/My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move--oil-on-canvas-80x60cm.jpg" data-mid="206392460" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/978/i/e552f2a097734939fc7b306f598055276dcbadd3ff5e74af62217e584a8c5fd2/My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move--oil-on-canvas-80x60cm.jpg" /> My body, still too heavy with sleep to move I, oil on canvas, 60 x 80 cm, London, 2019 <img width="1187" height="974" width_o="1187" height_o="974" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74434bbbae09776687f59fe4ee6d85a84ed43dbe360405e7b8073cafda2d39ba/My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move.png" data-mid="206392468" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74434bbbae09776687f59fe4ee6d85a84ed43dbe360405e7b8073cafda2d39ba/My-body--still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move.png" /> My body, still too heavy with sleep to move II, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm, London, 2019 <img width="2152" height="1258" width_o="2152" height_o="1258" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ba6fec1c5533dc0e1fe9b7420ef1ee10e6b8f8cd240b27ed8dffaf22444bacb/cygan_gabriela_My-body_-still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_cykl_calosc.jpg" data-mid="206526111" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ba6fec1c5533dc0e1fe9b7420ef1ee10e6b8f8cd240b27ed8dffaf22444bacb/cygan_gabriela_My-body_-still-too-heavy-with-sleep-to-move_cykl_calosc.jpg" />&nbsp;A&nbsp;triptych view,&nbsp;London, 2020<img width="3904" height="2848" width_o="3904" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/44f381941bbdc70ea5b76e3183c35c1b63001d7d33ef366216f59021432ae461/fbo.jpg" data-mid="206392721" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/44f381941bbdc70ea5b76e3183c35c1b63001d7d33ef366216f59021432ae461/fbo.jpg" /> An exhibition view, Sopot, Poland 2020 https://gabrielacygan.com/Knights-Squires Thu, 27 Nov 2025 21:53:42 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Knights-Squires Knights &amp; Squires Todoro | Unsound 2025Shells, pearls and gemstones of varying shapes, blistered toads, a playful skeleton resting in an onyx bed, fishbone combs, and moonlight-refracting blades. Together or on their own, they serve as amulets and repel evil spirits. The name Knights &amp; Squires refers to the jewellery collection we created in collaboration with Todoro Studio. The collection premiered in October in Cracow, alongside the opening of the exhibition and the Unsound Festival. <img width="4288" height="2848" width_o="4288" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6cccff92824194c0283a9f0fb5f5c9519c539d8ba79cc5f16faf969ed7ee2298/_DSC0678.jpg" data-mid="241164542" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6cccff92824194c0283a9f0fb5f5c9519c539d8ba79cc5f16faf969ed7ee2298/_DSC0678.jpg" /> <img width="2561" height="3335" width_o="2561" height_o="3335" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e8eb20a83739d9eb182a5a55033848143f8182881888a246e51f6b2f7faf726a/IMG_3010.jpg" data-mid="241164522" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e8eb20a83739d9eb182a5a55033848143f8182881888a246e51f6b2f7faf726a/IMG_3010.jpg" /> <img width="2630" height="3499" width_o="2630" height_o="3499" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c87ed293ec720e0d538754590a74d49546418f1b62ffedd7b36df3dc51c06ecd/The-watcher_oil-on-canvas_100x80cm_2025.jpg" data-mid="241164515" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c87ed293ec720e0d538754590a74d49546418f1b62ffedd7b36df3dc51c06ecd/The-watcher_oil-on-canvas_100x80cm_2025.jpg" />Watcher, oil on canvas, 100x80cm, London, UK 2025 <img width="4288" height="2848" width_o="4288" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57fa99ca9e3472abe16a7dbf313b07ba18ff4f94bac0ff19e32a6a786803eb4b/_DSC0670.jpg" data-mid="241164543" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57fa99ca9e3472abe16a7dbf313b07ba18ff4f94bac0ff19e32a6a786803eb4b/_DSC0670.jpg" /> https://gabrielacygan.com/Reflections-Berlin Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:41:35 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Reflections-Berlin Reflections KIT Gallery, Berlin 2024 <img width="3173" height="2312" width_o="3173" height_o="2312" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/838e5e91df168c136c243a5e18ad674c7243b77a417a954bcf3d927a111612c6/OBRAZ_GADGETS.jpg" data-mid="238972457" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/838e5e91df168c136c243a5e18ad674c7243b77a417a954bcf3d927a111612c6/OBRAZ_GADGETS.jpg" /> Specimens, oil on canvas, 120x90 cm,Porto, Portugal 2023/24Extravagant shells, discarded goblets, rotten fruit and bones. Impractical jewelry pieces, shiny insect shells, splintered vases, statues and trinkets washed ashore. Fish remains and rotting wood jiggle inertly to the rhythm of the murky wave. &nbsp;An italian silver crab, Rome, 20th century (51cm)&nbsp;Merry winery, probably Frankfurt am Main, 18th century. Baroque pearls, gold, enamel, silver, gold, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphire, amethyst, carnelian, glassPendant with the penitent Saint Jerome, Spain A cracked pearl eggSeven Sorrows of Our Lady of Sorrows, Spanish Empire (107.7gm)Mourning slide, 17th century. Gold, rock crystal, hairA few shining beetlesVictorian butter dish in pear shape design, United States, 19th centuryOrder of the Golden Fleece pendant, 16th century, France Golden chrysalis of the painted lady butterfly Ecclesiastical ring with a miniature crucifixion scene, either France or Spain (ivory) Art Nouveau toad inkwell, 20th century “The tops were large, and were railed about with what had once been octagonal net-work, all now in sad disrepair. These tops hung overhead like three ruinous aviaries, in one of which was seen, perched, on a ratlin, a white noddy, a strange fowl, so called from its lethargic, somnambulistic character, being frequently caught by hand at sea. Battered and mouldy, the castellated forecastle seemed some ancient turret, long ago taken by assault, and then left to decay.” “They will descend into the tunnels that we had dug deep under the pole. It is still -70 degrees here. And that's why this place has outlived all the large cities in the world. They walk on, and on. And then, this. As if we wanted to leave one remnant of our presence on this planet, they would find a frozen sturgeon, mysteriously hidden away beneath the mathematically precise true South Pole. They stash it back away into its frozen shrine for another eternity.” “When the Federation first made contact with the Tamarians, although their universal translators could successfully translate the individual words and sentence structure of Tamarian speech, they were unable to convey the symbolic meaning they represented. Without prior knowledge of the Tamarians' history and legends, a word-by-word translation was of no use to someone attempting to communicate with them. This language barrier led to the isolation of the Tamarian people after all attempts at communication had failed.”Excerpts: Herman Melville, “Benito Cereno”; Encounters at the End of the World (2007); “Tamarian language”, memory-alpha.fandom.com <img width="4288" height="2848" width_o="4288" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/95ecbd57e201f9962585bfcac34ecff313923371813a8e5bbc7d37a3b734def9/1-copy.jpg" data-mid="238973956" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/95ecbd57e201f9962585bfcac34ecff313923371813a8e5bbc7d37a3b734def9/1-copy.jpg" /><img width="3997" height="2725" width_o="3997" height_o="2725" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a86d73c41b9c83bb45633844309c52e6409311e3483ab62dde437fb541be231e/ex-view-copy.jpg" data-mid="241164079" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a86d73c41b9c83bb45633844309c52e6409311e3483ab62dde437fb541be231e/ex-view-copy.jpg" /><img width="4288" height="2848" width_o="4288" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ea498f1e1f0da99ae6d5d3e9ff9baf5a4524506a4db63f8a125b6509fc3b31de/ex-view-2.jpg" data-mid="241164479" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ea498f1e1f0da99ae6d5d3e9ff9baf5a4524506a4db63f8a125b6509fc3b31de/ex-view-2.jpg" /> https://gabrielacygan.com/Black-Wall Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:56:57 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Black-Wall Black Wall KIT Gallery Sopot, Poland <img width="3165" height="1422" width_o="3165" height_o="1422" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b2ff65192f6591998fb00b0aa7163583be626adc51d58ef10f5632baee512a4/wall.jpg" data-mid="206392641" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b2ff65192f6591998fb00b0aa7163583be626adc51d58ef10f5632baee512a4/wall.jpg" />The Black Wall Installation, Sopot, Poland, 2020 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;This artwork transcends mere representation, transforming the background into an integral part of the narrative, contributing to the overall impact and inviting the audience to embark on a visual journey. In this composition, an all-encompassing dark background takes center stage, weaving a tapestry that influences the overall aesthetic. This rich, velvety black dominates the entire canvas, establishing a commanding presence that draws the viewer into the heart of the narrative. Employed expansively across the canvas, black color transforms into a spatial entity—a limitless expanse that beckons the viewer to explore its depths. In this context, the black space in the oil painting becomes a magnetic force, drawing attention inward and redirecting focus. The depth of the black creates a visual vacuum, absorbing extraneous details and distractions. As a result, the viewer is compelled to confront the essential elements presented within the composition. <img width="1835" height="2622" width_o="1835" height_o="2622" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c7da8eac438afbd06cfc991f8af53a1613723782a8079f01113d9e571bef7a43/LYSY.jpg" data-mid="206574030" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c7da8eac438afbd06cfc991f8af53a1613723782a8079f01113d9e571bef7a43/LYSY.jpg" />No title portrait, oil on canvas, 20 x 30cm, Warsaw, Poland 2018 <img width="824" height="1216" width_o="824" height_o="1216" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/903de30b841d9710756bd7e72377580dbd0fe5726bd0bbed4bf2f3a36c0836e2/dziewczyna-INSTA.jpg" data-mid="206392662" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/824/i/903de30b841d9710756bd7e72377580dbd0fe5726bd0bbed4bf2f3a36c0836e2/dziewczyna-INSTA.jpg" /> No title portrait, oil on canvas, 20 x 30cm, Cracow, Poland 2018 <img width="1796" height="2306" width_o="1796" height_o="2306" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/723ca3e5bd3dca0dd9de34c10c6a1690fa7578279ee54a204ae4ceba9c3eb922/BODY.jpg" data-mid="206574633" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/723ca3e5bd3dca0dd9de34c10c6a1690fa7578279ee54a204ae4ceba9c3eb922/BODY.jpg" />Body, oil on canvas, 30 x 40cm, Cracow, Poland 2018 <img width="2140" height="2611" width_o="2140" height_o="2611" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d0e5ed1839af0060f46a1109e068f409d6e7b37bcf02413609c92acb1dcb6634/HAND.jpg" data-mid="206574929" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d0e5ed1839af0060f46a1109e068f409d6e7b37bcf02413609c92acb1dcb6634/HAND.jpg" />A hand, oil on canvas, 20 x 30cm, Cracow, Poland 2018 <img width="843" height="1097" width_o="843" height_o="1097" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7aa8680ed865a7dc78594bdae1eaf92f9f97bcbc3932b998b9acba5bc1f1dde8/A-boy--oil-on-canvas--20x30cm--2018-copy.jpg" data-mid="206575336" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/843/i/7aa8680ed865a7dc78594bdae1eaf92f9f97bcbc3932b998b9acba5bc1f1dde8/A-boy--oil-on-canvas--20x30cm--2018-copy.jpg" />A boy, oil on canvas, 20 x 30cm, Cracow, Poland 2018 https://gabrielacygan.com/Lubelska-Wiosna Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:56:58 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Lubelska-Wiosna 2nd Lublin Spring Painting BiennialThe First Honorary Mention, Poland 2023 <img width="1440" height="1800" width_o="1440" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/af63fcf80d5f416203e92c9e9c547af9e9c5a1456af07e28f23d2e132b0ccbf3/BA67AD74-BDB0-45D2-AC87-22347713214B.JPG" data-mid="206536338" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/af63fcf80d5f416203e92c9e9c547af9e9c5a1456af07e28f23d2e132b0ccbf3/BA67AD74-BDB0-45D2-AC87-22347713214B.JPG" /><img width="4234" height="2798" width_o="4234" height_o="2798" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b0dc6b963f9ce58f4dd522c2f24184bfcd1ea9a3af6c5e5e0847deb2cfac114/39-copy2.jpg" data-mid="206539641" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b0dc6b963f9ce58f4dd522c2f24184bfcd1ea9a3af6c5e5e0847deb2cfac114/39-copy2.jpg" /><img width="2804" height="2250" width_o="2804" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5d4af1722ec73db546bb11a6e3999655eb4204caa63dfb721b0ad739c5a4591/_DSC9077_2.jpg" data-mid="206393673" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5d4af1722ec73db546bb11a6e3999655eb4204caa63dfb721b0ad739c5a4591/_DSC9077_2.jpg" />No title landscape, oil on canvas, 110 x 80 cm, Porto, Portugal 2023 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A psychedelic landscape reminiscent of David Cronenberg's films. Swollen plasma spreads out in irregular circles. Electricity illuminating viscera of a dismembered amphibian seen through a microscope. Glistening muscles of a strange organism unable to act, to think, to dream. “So, like tiktaalik-in-reverse, we crawl back into the safety of the primordial soup, to a place that’s far away yet equally as alien as the world we currently live in.” Günseli Yalcinkaya, "Going prehistoric: are we entering the ‘dinocore’ era?", dazeddigital.com <img width="3317" height="2878" width_o="3317" height_o="2878" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/789fcfb29d4c9ed7d8cfeccd6a24ec7caf93f139d34a9dbbd7d378a9adbdcdf9/IMG_6915.jpg" data-mid="206537694" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/789fcfb29d4c9ed7d8cfeccd6a24ec7caf93f139d34a9dbbd7d378a9adbdcdf9/IMG_6915.jpg" />Eye I, oil on canvas, 80 x 70 cm, Cracow, Poland 2021 A seed bloating with a thousand fibers sunken inside a pitchy, viscid fluid. It's also a trap, dead space that swallows light. "(...) a little how you imagine, for example, a tear gland to be, with thin, ciliated edges, and within which, quivering, twitching, writhing, are some intensely white flashes, some of them extremely thin, like infinitely fine stripes, others much thicker, almost fat, like maggots." Georges Perec, "A Man Asleep" (translated by Andrew Leak) <img width="1007" height="666" width_o="1007" height_o="666" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c973c98df8c6624ce1fb8445fa5d207ca696927993eb25f6354474979290deea/9503E911-2035-4A6C-8E22-2200BD1D8764.jpg" data-mid="206535722" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c973c98df8c6624ce1fb8445fa5d207ca696927993eb25f6354474979290deea/9503E911-2035-4A6C-8E22-2200BD1D8764.jpg" />Object I, oil on canvas, 110 x 80 cm, Cracow, Poland 2022Mechanical mold merges into the glow of a biological coating. We might understand individual parts, but the whole makes no sense. We don't know what it's for - stuff of delirious dreams, a fascinating as it is useless. Bizarre stalks of the metal skeleton glimmer in the light. <img width="3242" height="2446" width_o="3242" height_o="2446" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25161644adb94da11aa76dacd0f902bc79aa62ee886ed6f04c26538323d1e287/WATER.jpg" data-mid="206572415" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/25161644adb94da11aa76dacd0f902bc79aa62ee886ed6f04c26538323d1e287/WATER.jpg" />Water, oil on canvas, 130 x 90 cm, London, UK 2022 https://gabrielacygan.com/Reflections Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:20:19 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Reflections Reflections Editor: Dominika Ożarowska “The broken image of Man moves in minute by minute and cell by cell.... Poverty, hatred, war, police-criminals, bureaucracy, insanity, all symptoms of The Human Virus.” After waking up, we try to rebuild the world that faded under our eyelids. We collect scraps that we could put back together again. We recreate an endless puzzle of random details. New paintings are like snapshots from a bad dream. I collect strange specimens and trinkets (a deformed image of an underground mirror, a sunray reflected in a lens, gold flashing on a sand grain), bouncing light that may take us to another place. "(...) as though I were cutting sections, at different heights, in a jet of water, rainbow-flashing but seemingly without flow or motion– " “The study of thinking machines teaches us more about the brain than we can learn by introspective methods. Western man is externalizing himself in the form of gadgets.” They record a journey through an underground world of shredded pasts. Like in a Fun Boy Three song, “The lunatics have taken over the asylum”. Reality around us makes us crave an escape from the grid and limits of understanding, and towards prehistory. It’s like turning the lights on and off as well. In the dark, we cling to the wall, so we don’t bump our heads. Anything is possible. I turn on the switch and suddenly find myself inside a big room. I had been here before I closed my eyes. I turn it off and on again. Images connect to each other in the dark. "(...) we hear endlessly, all around us, that unvarying sound which is no echo from without, but the resonance of a vibration from within. We try to discover in things, endeared to us on that account, the spiritual glamour which we ourselves have cast upon them; we are disillusioned, and learn that they are in themselves barren and devoid of the charm which they owed, in our minds, to the association of certain ideas;" Excerpts: William S. Burroughs, “Naked Lunch”; Marcel Proust, "Swann's Way" (translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff) <img width="3317" height="2878" width_o="3317" height_o="2878" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/789fcfb29d4c9ed7d8cfeccd6a24ec7caf93f139d34a9dbbd7d378a9adbdcdf9/IMG_6915.jpg" data-mid="206578640" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/789fcfb29d4c9ed7d8cfeccd6a24ec7caf93f139d34a9dbbd7d378a9adbdcdf9/IMG_6915.jpg" />A seed bloating with a thousand fibers sunken inside a pitchy, viscid fluid. It's also a trap, dead space that swallows light. "(...) a little how you imagine, for example, a tear gland to be, with thin, ciliated edges, and within which, quivering, twitching, writhing, are some intensely white flashes, some of them extremely thin, like infinitely fine stripes, others much thicker, almost fat, like maggots." Georges Perec, "A Man Asleep" (translated by Andrew Leak) <img width="1007" height="666" width_o="1007" height_o="666" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c973c98df8c6624ce1fb8445fa5d207ca696927993eb25f6354474979290deea/9503E911-2035-4A6C-8E22-2200BD1D8764.jpg" data-mid="206578663" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c973c98df8c6624ce1fb8445fa5d207ca696927993eb25f6354474979290deea/9503E911-2035-4A6C-8E22-2200BD1D8764.jpg" />Mechanical mold merges into the glow of a biological coating. We might understand individual parts, but the whole makes no sense. We don't know what it's for - stuff of delirious dreams, as fascinating as it is useless. Bizarre stalks of the metal skeleton glimmer in the light. <img width="2804" height="2250" width_o="2804" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5d4af1722ec73db546bb11a6e3999655eb4204caa63dfb721b0ad739c5a4591/_DSC9077_2.jpg" data-mid="206578698" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5d4af1722ec73db546bb11a6e3999655eb4204caa63dfb721b0ad739c5a4591/_DSC9077_2.jpg" />A psychedelic landscape reminiscent of David Cronenberg's films. Swollen plasma spreads out in irregular circles. Electricity illuminating viscera of a dismembered amphibian seen through a microscope. Glistening muscles of a strange organism unable to act, to think, to dream. “So, like tiktaalik-in-reverse, we crawl back into the safety of the primordial soup, to a place that’s far away yet equally as alien as the world we currently live in.” Günseli Yalcinkaya, "Going prehistoric: are we entering the ‘dinocore’ era?", dazeddigital.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Walter-Pater Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:56:57 +0000 gabrielacygan.com https://gabrielacygan.com/Walter-Pater 2. Walter Pater <img width="2000" height="2551" width_o="2000" height_o="2551" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c242e961677e6c1660576645169e70f8dd816569faf60ea3a1477f20cc5bf3a9/g.jpg" data-mid="206384609" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c242e961677e6c1660576645169e70f8dd816569faf60ea3a1477f20cc5bf3a9/g.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="2551" width_o="2000" height_o="2551" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/828eaf2939fce33a7e7efc22793555135f08f89e84ec59fb60bbe278131549aa/bb.jpg" data-mid="206384610" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/828eaf2939fce33a7e7efc22793555135f08f89e84ec59fb60bbe278131549aa/bb.jpg" /> WP / 1873 From Studies in the History of the Renaissance &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Like the elements of which we are composed, the action of these forces extends beyond us; it rusts iron and ripens corn. Far out on every side of us those elements are broadcast, driven by many forces; and birth and gesture and death and the springing of violets from the grave are but a few out of ten thousand resultant combinations. That clear, perpetual outline of face and limb is but an image of ours, under which we group them - a design in a web, the actual threads of which pass out beyond it. <img width="2000" height="2551" width_o="2000" height_o="2551" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/af714e59d1c0801c590eb145d00f2cc1d622067790157999ad01fe261410cd16/aa.jpg" data-mid="206384611" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/af714e59d1c0801c590eb145d00f2cc1d622067790157999ad01fe261410cd16/aa.jpg" /> 001a <img width="2000" height="2551" width_o="2000" height_o="2551" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa45f9524f4926f4e12f565eb471f61ab0bbf6a58b40c28c87d45f87e432f450/cc.jpg" data-mid="206384612" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aa45f9524f4926f4e12f565eb471f61ab0bbf6a58b40c28c87d45f87e432f450/cc.jpg" /> 001b