An exhibition by Jan Tomza-Osiecki
The Thirst of Galalith is our upcoming exhibition opening on the 27th of May by iso resident Jan Tomza-Osiecki who presents a series of sculptures made from derelict milk plastic. Galalith, as it is named, is a rare uncompromising material that refuses the human will: It is brittle and hard to work with, it is non-biodegradable and here to stay. To give this material a new life outside of all its negative connotations, Tomza-Osiecki molds them into works of art, or fossils as he labels them. Fossils, too, represent time frozen. They are artefacts through which we understand our history. By linking this notion of an archival item to plastic, he situates them into a context where we can read it as a signifier of our history, present and future. In this way, his approach seeks to establish a non-moralistic view on a wasteful material and to probe creative solutions to the current human conducted processes of ecocide. If plastics are the fossils of our lives, can Galalith suggest a different archaeology? The unruliness of this plastic becomes a starting point for embracing its desires evident in its denial of stillness and its unstoppable thirst. The Thirst of Glalalith palpably calls up a story of nonhuman agency – a summoned narrative that replaces an end-of-times lack with curiosity and seduction.
The opening of the exhibition will be accompanied by the performance Plastic Water Music, where Teresa Costa (flute), Bjork Semey-Delacroix (double-bass), Pankaj Tiwari (speaker), and Jan Tomza-Osiecki (touch) create a musical suite for an upcoming Post-humanist Spa. The performance initiates a sonic descent into the murky canal waters of Amsterdam where both discordant and harmonious nonhuman entanglements reside.
Jan Tomza-Osiecki (b.1985) is an Amsterdam-based sculptor, artistic researcher, and set designer, with a research focused on disobedient artistic materials, autonomous objects, trouble with resourcing, and the prospects of post-humanist art. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. His visual works have been exhibited at CASSTL in Antwerp, Raster Gallery in Warsaw, SVA in New York, Platan Gallery in Budapest, and 1646 in The Hague. In theatrical work, his scenography and costumes have been staged at Frascati Amsterdam, Santarcangelo Festival in Italy, Festival Belluard Bollwerk in Switzerland. His musical compositions were staged at Meervart Theatre in Amsterdam, as well as in TR Warszawa and Nowy Teatr in Warsaw.
