Marcin Dudek
Sektor, 2021
Steel fence, jesmonite, ash, resin, textile, medical tape, acrylic paint, image transfer, wood, uv varnish, flood lights
240 x 210 x 210 cm
94 1/2 x 82 5/8 x 82 5/8 in
94 1/2 x 82 5/8 x 82 5/8 in
Copyright The Artist & Harlan Levey Projects
Further images
A “memory box,” similar to his 2018 work “Akumulator”, SEKTOR exemplifies Marcin Dudek’s anti-readymade attitude, combining his unique adrenaline-fueled approach to social abstraction, crowd violence and stadium subcultures, as well...
A “memory box,” similar to his 2018 work “Akumulator”, SEKTOR exemplifies Marcin Dudek’s anti-readymade attitude, combining his unique adrenaline-fueled approach to social abstraction, crowd violence and stadium subcultures, as well as the three major forms of production in his practice: performance, mixed-media collage and sculpture.
The cage-like structure refers to the stadium as a theatre of social reality and spectacle, but more literally speaks of the areas used to section off visiting fans at European football matches. It is illuminated by small floodlights in each corner. Fragments of clothing are caught in the wires. These are concealed by jesmonite, which has been squeezed by the artist’s hand leaving the imprints of his clenched fists wrapped around the bars and clutching traces of what has been ensnared in the fence. The center of the enclosure has been forced apart by hand allowing limited access to enter or escape.
Inside, is something of an aftermath. Four beams, staggered like stadium bleachers, support twenty hanging fragments, which have been brutalised. Each fragment is intricately collaged on both sides with strips of medical tape, paint and image transfers. These images were then vigorously layered with various materials such as metal, textile, paper mâché, jesmonite, and ash; scorched or even burned completely as narratives are worked and reworked through an intense analytical and intuitive process of repetitive appropriation and deconstruction.
The floor is covered in images from the artist’s time as a football hooligan, woven together with documentation of hooligan subcultures across various geographies and decades, including for example the Handsworth Riots in England (1985) alongside the Cairo Ultras protesting the Port Said massacre (2012). In this manner, personal experience is embedded in larger global histories. These images have been obscured by orange pigment and the heat of a smoke grenade, a gesture of simultaneous distress and empowerment that is key to Dudek’s performance vocabulary. The four sections of fence have previously been used by the artist in various performances and installations since 2013, testifying to a history of labour and use as well as anxiety, trauma and intervention.
The cage-like structure refers to the stadium as a theatre of social reality and spectacle, but more literally speaks of the areas used to section off visiting fans at European football matches. It is illuminated by small floodlights in each corner. Fragments of clothing are caught in the wires. These are concealed by jesmonite, which has been squeezed by the artist’s hand leaving the imprints of his clenched fists wrapped around the bars and clutching traces of what has been ensnared in the fence. The center of the enclosure has been forced apart by hand allowing limited access to enter or escape.
Inside, is something of an aftermath. Four beams, staggered like stadium bleachers, support twenty hanging fragments, which have been brutalised. Each fragment is intricately collaged on both sides with strips of medical tape, paint and image transfers. These images were then vigorously layered with various materials such as metal, textile, paper mâché, jesmonite, and ash; scorched or even burned completely as narratives are worked and reworked through an intense analytical and intuitive process of repetitive appropriation and deconstruction.
The floor is covered in images from the artist’s time as a football hooligan, woven together with documentation of hooligan subcultures across various geographies and decades, including for example the Handsworth Riots in England (1985) alongside the Cairo Ultras protesting the Port Said massacre (2012). In this manner, personal experience is embedded in larger global histories. These images have been obscured by orange pigment and the heat of a smoke grenade, a gesture of simultaneous distress and empowerment that is key to Dudek’s performance vocabulary. The four sections of fence have previously been used by the artist in various performances and installations since 2013, testifying to a history of labour and use as well as anxiety, trauma and intervention.