A Lapidarium is a place where fragments of monuments and architecture are preserved and displayed. Often such collections are derived from the ruins –indeed the Latin word lapis means stone—of our distant history. On display are broken pediments, crumbling marble columns, and shreds of ornate façades with discarded fragments, too, but of a different material: plastic.
Through three-dimensional printer’s software, I have attempted to reconstruct from own my childhood memories a collection of mediaeval landmark buildings festooned with flying buttresses, arched windows and stone vaulted ceilings, Rather than mimetic realism, though, what is of interest are the unexpected glitches and resultant “mutations” of forms. That is, the latter provide portals to half-remembered memories.
As a lapidarium exists to commemorate and preserve forlorn and decaying objects (that suddenly and arbitrarily gain importance in history) my collection of discarded digital failures attempts to elevate and stabilize memory by coating seemingly formless plastic materials in insulating foam sealant and a hand drawn plastic mesh-like matrix.
About the artist
Through his creative work, Kolasinski has tested complex video installations, single and multiple channel projections, as a well as site-specific projects in the context of public architecture. His art work has reached large international audiences through presentations and exhibitions in numerous venues including: the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato, Mexico; 61 Festival de Cannes – Short Film Corner; Cinema Politic, Barcelona, Spain; and Digital Fringe, Melbourne, Australia, to name a few.
Kolasinski’s work is rooted in an international dialogue between two worlds: the “Old World” of Europe in Krakow, and the “New World” of the United States in multicultural Miami. These convergent worlds create a running theme that surfaces in many of his works: the search for identity in the vortex of cultural displacement.
Jacek J. Kolasiński
Chair, Associate Professor of Art
Department of Art + Art History Florida International University
