New Polish Way of Life by Kurt Fleckenstein

Kurt Fleckenstein opens a big solo exhibition on the 4th of July (I was due to be born on this date;) in the municipal gallery “Profil” of Poznan. The exhibition is situated in the castle of Posen He reflects the “New Polish Way of Life” critically

I am not an arty-farty type but the themes Kurt addresses seem pertinent for Poles and foreigners (like myself) to soak up and deconstruct.

Four key parts include "Wolnosc" (freedom), a reference to the once formidable labour union "Solidarnosc." It is symbolises through four beer brands that only differ in their designs. The catch is they all belong to the same internationally active company. Yip, that's capitalism alright - same shit, different smells, and all give a brutal hangover.

A video shows a post-accident car in a modern car-wash being pereptually washed and dried yet it fails to "recover". Fleckenstein nits the nail on the head regarding the brutally high amount of traffic deaths in Poland alongside the adoration of steel on wheel to proclaim ones prowess. Big cars, big egos. I'm a radical pedestrian, so don;t get me started on cars please!

The Nazis obliterated the historical downtown area of Warsaw which is now, alike other city centres in Poland covered with in-your-face billboards and adverts the size of blimps. The creative artist obliges visitors to cram themselves through a labyrinth of billboards emblazoned, "I hate billboards".

A whole room with prohibitory signs against smoking is set around a central lord jesus's supper table, made of white plastic tables and chairs smothered with Coca-Colas and Big Macs. Even they taste worse than communion wafers. "Civilised and Enlightened" is the relevant title of this part.

And then one close to my own current occupation - the English language. Poles like to show off their skills in the English language on the metro, bus, street corners for no apparent reason apart from it's 'groovy','in', 'hip' and probably symbolises being upwardly mobile for their user!
The fact that there are now hundreds of thousands of "Polish immigrant workers" in England, Ireland and the U.S.A. helps explain why this art piece is entitled "New Polish Way of Life"

For more info: www.kurt-fleckenstein.com

http://www.live-pr.com/en/big-macs-for-lord-s-supper-r1048180769.htm