A Trip to Bydgoszcz, Poland

It took a long time, but I finally was able to update this website and migrate posts from blogspot. After a year of slowly revising the design, I am pleased to start blogging at kipdeeds.com.

Beyond changes to the website, 2018 provided many new events. I got married, inherited a dog, and have been living in the countryside outside Warsaw, Poland. There has been little time for art making, traveling, or making blog posts. However, this past week a two day trip was taken to Bydgoszcz, Poland. Turoń is a nearby sister city (included as one of the Seven Wonders of Poland). Bydgoszcz is about a three and a half hours drive from Warsaw. While there I walked around old town and went to the Modern Art Gallery (focused on Polish artists in the modern era). I did not take pictures in the gallery and unfortunately the website does not seem to show much. However, I did take pictures on my walk. Included here are some samples.

Hotel Chopin
One night was spent at Hotel Chopin. It was clean and newly renovated. The Architecture was said to be in the Art Nouveau style.
Old town center
The old town square is being renovated.
Sculpture dedicated to martyrs
A sculpture dedicated to martyrs is found at the end of the town square.
Canal
Around the old town is a canal that looks newly renovated.
Architecture
Outside of the old town there was a variety of Architectural styles.
Park
There are many signs of improvement in Poland. Here a park is being developed with the help of the European Union.
Public Sculpture
I enjoyed these sculptures. Everyone is wearing a slightly different shaped hat.
Public Sculpture
A tree carved into a sculpture.
Beverage
A very good supper was had at Restaurant No. 1. I had a non-alcoholic drink there. It was not quite beer and not quite soda but something in-between. It was tasty.

After A Time in Poland

Before my trip to Poland I was preparing to make a print.

Merriam Webster states, Romanticism is ” a style of art, literature, etc., during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasized the imagination and emotions”.

At the beginning of the year I posed three questions for myself. Two questions were answered previously. I am going to re-caste the last question and attempt to answer it.

Question Three: In relationship to imagination, what role does a personal and emotional place represent? Does a lack of interest in this realm mean that personal visions, while flavorful, are limited exercises without broader relevance?

Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel as if the deep kind of imagination that leads to unfathomable vistas, to creatures yet formed, and worlds that are hidden behind stones has somehow been lost. I am under the impression that there is a more stark focus on issues both formal and political (some examples). While I do not want to dismiss imaginative avenues within these subjects and I am generalizing, it seems that art in the vanguard of critical attention has moved from a palpable imaginative place to a more didactic message driven realm.

What surprised me most is that a trip to Poland revealed to me a critical case (if not a necessity) for imagination in current life and art. Between two trips, I read two books about Poland, The Heart of Europe by Norman Davies and the novel Poland by James Michener. The former confirmed the history of the latter. I learned how a nation maintains its nationhood when it has been taken. Poland was divided by other nations and there was a systematic attempt to replace its culture. Two philosophical perspectives help maintain the Polish identity (Positivism and Romanticism). Polish Romanticism was different then elsewhere in Europe because it had practical implications. It was part of a covert program to endure and outlive the occupying powers.

While I had read Plato’s Republic, this is the first time found philosophies that reached deep into the individual and define and preserve the self. In many ways Positivism and Romanticism were two sides of the same coin (the practical and the fantastic). Granted we need both but the latter often gets maligned as folly or false hope. However, without hope we have no future at all. Even those who have to be focused on practical concerns need a sense of hope. In order to get to this exalted place, we need to investigate the self and the ongoing change that can be both regenerative and caustic.

Imagination may involve brainstorming and many seemingly random acts. However, sprawling actions and ideas can become noise that leaves one with little place to focus. I encourage my fellow voyagers to think deeply about connections. Where does the wandering lead? Do any of the connections made in the wild world of process and symbols provide the following?

  1. Escape routes from oppressions
  2. Resolve the questions too big for words
  3. Usurp soulless perspectives

While the notion of romanticism in our day may be pushed to a corner or trampled on, it is not merely fantasy or whim. At its deepest root, romanticism provides a vision of the life we aspire to and provides tangible evidence of a world beyond earthly bounds. We all long to swim in this collected water because it shows signs of our humanity.

Progress made while staying in Poland.