PRESENTATION: Karolina Breguła-The Waves Are Rumbling So Loud
Karolina Breguła is a visual artist and filmmaker. She creates stories about art, architecture and urban spaces, which are a field of her anthropological and sociological observations. She is interested in storytelling – the roles of retelling memories, the favourable and detrimental effect of fiction, the remedial and destructive force of imagination.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art Archive
Karolina Breguła considers collaborative fiction writing a political activity which supports the process of diagnosing, expressing and discussing social problems. Many of her works are co-created with their protagonists and participants. The solo exhibition “The Waves Are Rumbling So Loud”, features the artist’s newly commissioned video installations, “The Fish” and “The Storm” (both 2024) alongside her earlier moving-image works and photographs that share the same concerns and conceptual queries. The exhibition revolves around a poetic and rather troubling account of the collective experiences of and reflections on the condition of the seas in the face of the climate crisis. “The Storm” portrays an image of the sea and a distant island observed by five characters who reveal their most hidden emotions as the destructive wind and waves grow bigger. The threatening weather uncovers social tensions and conflicts within the small community, which seems to be unprepared to face the coming dangers together. The artist’s latest film, “The Fish”, imagines the poetic transformation of a fisherwoman into a sea being. After she comes to understand the severe condition of her beloved sea, the protagonist rather abruptly changes her alliances and decides to stay under the water’s surface. The film takes inspiration from the urgent stories of communities facing serious disturbances caused by the climate crisis and the devastation of the sea. Its narrative is partially based on real people, and in particular the life experience of a Swedish fisherwoman, Manjula, with whom the artist worked closely, not just as a protagonist but also as a co-creator of the story. Many of Breguła’s film projects—which demonstrate a rich filmic language and elaborated conceptual approaches—are co-created with their protagonists and participants, blurring the boundaries between professional and amateur artistic activity. Short stories collaboratively written by Breguła and the participants of her projects are also included in the exhibition. “Dust” (2019) is a story about two women living in an old district earmarked for demolition. Since their building is due to be demolished soon, all the neighbours have already left. Yet, the women decide to stay in their flat. The protagonists spend time in the abandoned multi-storey building and observe through the window bulldozers working around. Four out of five films were made in collaboration with Ms. Zou and Ms. Huang from Daguan in Taipei. When the project was in production, their houses in Daguan were bound for demolition while Ms. Zou, Ms. Huang together with their neighbours kept fighting against the evictions in the district. The first two films are a fictive story staged with Ms. Zou and Ms. Huang in an empty building awaiting demolition in central Taipei. I entered the building, cleaned up and furnished one chosen flat to turn it into a friendly liveable space and used it as a film location. Another two films are a conversation between Ms. Zou and Ms. Huang, Ms. Huang singing a sad song which reminds her of home and an image of a Daguan streets. The last film is a documentation of the demolition of the house where the first two films were made. “Living Room Under The Flyover” (2021) is film documenting a performance staged in front of a house earmarked for partial demolition in Tainan train-station neighbourhood. The script of the performance was written based on statements made by Chun-Hsian Huang who is the inhabitant of the house and by protesters against expropriation and eviction in Tainan. The performance took place on 28 April in a space under a flyover, where Chun-Hsian Huang temporarily lived. It was made in collaboration with Shi-Fen Zhang, Rong-Yu Li and Ya-Qiao Li, who have been engaged in organising the protection of Chun-Hsian Huang’s house.
Photo: Karolina Breguła, The Storm, film still, 2024, Courtesy of the artist and lokal_30 Gallery
Info: Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art, Katharinenstraße 23, Oldenburg, Germany, Duration: 4/7-29/9/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 14:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.edith-russ-haus.de/
