CENTER FOR LIVING THINGS, 2017 – 2020
Mixed media: aquarium with found objects (120x60x140cm); museum vitrine with found objects (120x80x100cm); 4 digital photographs, inkjet printout (each 42x54cm)
Courtesy of lokal_30 Gallery, Warsaw (PL)
The Center for Living Things is the research pata-institution founded in 2016, in order to examine, collect and popularise the knowledge concerning new humanotic nature forms. All exhibits gathered in the Institute’s collection are abandoned objects, used commodities that are no longer needed – wastes of human overproduction, which have become the natural environment for many living organisms. Specimens were found on illegal waste dumping sites, where the transgression of man-made objects and plant tissues takes place. These hybrids of plants and artificial objects are difficult to classify, as they are animate and inanimate at the same time. Recently, wastes have been taking over the behaviour of living matter. In the process of overproduction, ceaseless demand of constant update of possessed goods is the reason why most unnecessary products seem to be out of control. Center for Living Things is aimed to describe mechanisms appearing in the sphere of rejection and uselessness. In this sphere, products are no longer tools used by people. Products participate in almost every process that occurs in the biosphere hence we can’t definitively distinguish economic or social processes from the so-called natural process.
Diana Lelonek
Diana Lelonek, born in 1988 (PL), graduated from the department of Photography in the Faculty of Multimedia Communication at the University of Art in Poznan (PL) and gained her PhD at Interdisciplinary PhD Studies, University of Art in Poznań.
Diana Lelonek explores relationships between humans and other species. Her projects are critical responses to the processes of over-production, unlimited growth, and our approach to the environment. She uses photography, living matter, and found objects, creating work that is interdisciplinary and often appears at the interface of art and science.
She participated in several international biennale, festivals and group shows at: Riga International Biennale of Contemporary Art RIBOCA; Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art, Oldenburg; Center of Contemporary Art, Warsaw; Kunstraum Niederosterriech, Vienna; Temporary Gallery, Cologne; Ballarat Photography Biennale, Australia; Tallin Art Hall; Culturescapes Festival, Basel; Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne.
