Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), 2010
museum section, wooden environment, with multiplex vitrines, frames and found objects, 500 x 500 x 450 cm
photo: Merijn van der Vliet
Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), 2010
In keeping with his earlier enigmatic productions, James Beckett shows with Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), translations and re-workings of material relating to the developments and occasional demise of Polish industry. The show is a component of a larger environment, – a stage-design for a performance piece playing May 2010 at Festival a/d Werf in Utrecht.
Poland is of particular interest, as much of European industry was shifted eastwards as the 1900’s progressed, hence to represent Polish activity is truly to speak of a Pan-European industrialisation. Found objects from abandoned factories across Poland will be exploited as subject matter for a pseudo-museum: a part archeological, part didactic interpretation, based on a workers’ health and safety display, discovered in a power-station in Łódź. The installation is a new scene: an eclectically composed installation housing diverse elements, such as documents, commemorative objects, tools and various other production-related matter presented in cabinets. With this physical approach toward history, the exhibition aims to become a lens, both to review and offer new light on a subject, as well as to practice a visual language purely as an act in itself.
The new work of Beckett is an extension of his earlier projects relating to industrial histories, namely the Bagnoli, Dalmine and Limburgerhof Extract Arrangements. A publication (#3 in the new series of publications of the gallery) with a text by Will Holder, will be a accompaniment to the presentation.
Click here to download the pdf of the poster #3 Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), with a text by Will Holder On the labelling of exhibits. Click here to download the booklet accompanying the poster.
Buy #3 Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life) at Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam, Lüttgenmeijer Berlin, Motto Berlin, Castillos/Corrales Paris, Pro qm Berlin, Boekie Woekie Amsterdam, €10.00 (edition of 500, signed by the artist)
(photograph Merlijn van der Vliet)
(photograph Merijn van der Vliet)
(photograph Merlijn van der Vliet)
(main entrance)
(1st department)
Tablica upamiętniająca rocznicę fabryki H. Cegielski (profil).
Cegielski pionierem przejścia od obsługi sprzętu rolniczego do silników
napędzanych parą.
Poznań.
Plate commemorating the anniverery of the factory H. Cegielski (Profile)
Cegielski pioneered the transition from manual agricultural equipment
into steam powered engines.
Poznan
Ceramique plate D= 32 cm, h= 4 cm
Poster print commemorating the anniverery of the factory of H. Cegielski (Profile)
Poznan
screen print, wooden frame
83 x 83 x 3 cm
edition 10 + 5 A/P
Pamiątkowa koszula ze znaczkami różnych fabryk w Polsce.
Rozmaite lokalizacje.
Commemorative shirt holding pins of various factories of Poland
Diverse locations
Shirt with found pins
Custom made vitrine
47,5 x 37,5 x 10 cm
Karty zadań oraz schemat, zamontowane do tablicy kablem elektrycznym.
Widoczny znak fabryki.
Mera-Poltik: prędkościomierze, zegary, oraz inne mierniki - fabryka w Łodzi.
Task logs and pin-up image mounted on hardboard with electric tape.
Also present, the factory pin
Mera-Poltik speedometer, clock and (other meters) factory Łodz
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout
36 x 61 x 2 cm
Technical drawings with un-related 'testing' fragments.
Also present, the factory pin. (Nr 3)
Mera-Poltik speedometer, clock and (other meters) factory Lodz
Technical drawing, found parts, pin with factory logo
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout
51 x 76,5 x 5 cm
Installationview 2nd department
Installationview
Installationview 3rd department
Tablice przypominające o zasadach bezpieczeństwa,
przedstawiajace ryzyko związane z użyciem gazów i drabin.
Mera-Poltik: prędkościomierze, zegary, oraz inne mierniki - fabryka w Łodzi.
Workers safety reminders, mentioning the risks of gas and ladders
Mera-Poltik speedometer, clock and (other meters) factory, Lodz
40 x 61,5 x 2 cm (x4)
List do kowala, zawiadamiający o jego awansie
na przewodniczącego cechu rzemiosł.
Dwa banknoty o nominałach 100 i 20 złotych. (Banknot 20 zł. złożony.)
Znalezione w Poznaniu.
Letter to a Blacksmith, announcing his promotion to leader of the crafts-party.
Two bank notes, 100 and 20 Zloties respectively (20 Zl note folded)
Found in Poznan
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout
51,5 x 56,5 x 2 cm
Książeczka BHP.
Butelka kofeiny oraz dokładny opis urazu pracownika.
Stara Rzeźnia, dawna centralna rzeźnia Poznania.
BHP booklet (Polish health and safety regulations organisation)
A bottle of Caffeine and a document detailing a worker's injury.
Stara Rzeźnia, former central abattoir of Poznan
Aluminium frame, custom made
51,5 x 61,5 x 5 cm
Pistolet udarowy o naciągu sprężynowym do wybijania otworów w ścianach.
Oświetlono podstawkę regulującą kąt nachylenia, komory oraz wycior.
Wifama - produkcja części i podzespołów dla
przemysłu motoryzacyjnego i lotniczego, Łódź.
Spring loaded shock gun, for hammering cavities into walls.
Showing corner-alignment bracket, shafts and cleaning wire.
Wifama (the production of parts and sub-assemblies
for automotive and aeronautics industries), Lodz
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout
70 x 92,5 x 7,5 cm
Torby w kwiaty - papierowa (nieco rozdarta u góry) oraz z tworzyw sztucznych (porzucona).
Współczesna (zakupiona obecnie) oraz poprzedniczka znaleziona na terenie Cementowni Grodziec.
Cementownia, Będzin.
Flower print bags, one paper (which is slightly broken at top) one plastic (discarded)
Contemporary (purchased) and predecessor found at Cementownia Grodiec, Cement plant, Bedzin
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout
61 x 51,5 x 5 cm, left part of a dyptich
Skrawki i płaty farby.
U dołu dwa naczynia z płatami farby z nie ustalonych lokalizacji .
W górnym rzędzie, okrawki farb ze ścian fabryki farb "Barwa" , Poznań
Various paint shavings
Bottom two vessels, paint shavings from unknown locations.
Top row, various paint shavings from the walls of the Barwa paint factory, Poznan
Aluminium frame, custom made passepartout 51,5 x 61,5 x 5 cm
Przedmioty pozostawione w magazynach.
(Powierzchnie byłych zakładów produkcyjnych wykorzystywano
czasowo do składowania towarów.) Róźne ksiąźki oraz portfele.
Fabryka tkanin "Rabich" w Łodzi.
Objects abandoned in storage, (temporary re-use of former site of production)
Various books and wallets,
fabric factory 'Rabich', Lodz.
Custom made wooden vitrine
37,5 x 52,5 x 6 cm
installationview, corridor to exit
Zbiór dokumentów. Wyszczególniono, między innymi:
- Protokoły straży pożarnej, w wypadkach zaprószenia ognia;
- Zbiory przepisów B.H.P.
- Ustalenia w celu polepszenia warunków pracy.
Stara Rzeźnia, dawna centralna rzeźnia Poznania.
One of many documents, detailing amongst other things:
- the fire departments investigation into accidents resulting in fire
- worker safety regulations
- measures toward change for the better in the work place in general.
Stara Rzeźnia, former central abattoir of Poznan
Documents framed in found frames
46 x 35,5 x 2 cm
Installationview Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam (exit)
Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), 2010
museum section, wooden environment, with multiplex vitrines, frames and found objects, 500 x 500 x 450 cm
photo: Merijn van der Vliet
(photograph Merlijn van der Vliet)
Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), 2010
museum section, wooden environment, with multiplex vitrines, frames and found objects, 500 x 500 x 450 cm
photo: Merijn van der Vliet
Zakłady na Życie (Plant-Life), 2010
museum section, wooden environment, with multiplex vitrines, frames and found objects, 500 x 500 x 450 cm
photo: Merijn van der Vliet