“Present” Jodłowska|Lalko|Bajon

Social media is a term that refers to the general use of internet and mobile technologies to transform communication into an interactive dialogue. The largest social media in the world is Facebook. The monthly number of active Facebook users at the end of March 2019 was 2.38 billion.

“Current” is an interdisciplinary artistic project that consolidates image, movement and sound, brought to life by Agnieszka Jodłowska. Every day associated with the world of dance theater and choreography. The artist’s fortieth birthday turned out to be the creative impulse for the work, when she decided to leave the comfort zone and leave the framework of the performing arts. Working with Marek Lalko, responsible for illustrating her ideas, and Radosław Bajon, who edited the video, she made a visual reminiscence of an area that cognitively intrigued her for many years – social activity in “social media”.

The undeniable advantage of the project is the descriptive language of the description of the phenomenon used by the artist, thanks to which she managed to avoid excessive emotional marking and the trap of a moralizing tone. This is especially important in view of the many controversies that social media are currently arousing in the global discourse. It is worth mentioning here, for example, the problem of disseminating disinformation by publishing “fake news”, identity theft, or impunity for spreading hate speech. The visual symbolism used is universal, as it derives from the dramaturgy of the movement which is Agnieszka Jodłowska’s natural creative environment. Despite this universal, the message addressed to the recipient is very specific and may provoke bold considerations about an individual attitude to the phenomenon in question.The installation, however, does not present easy-to-read signs and theses, but prompts to discover many hidden meanings and contexts.

Because, above all, cyberspace is an ideal space for communication, and according to the literature on the subject, it is able to meet almost all human needs. Starting from the contact with other members of the community, through economic needs, attempts to raise one’s status, which is associated with the need for competition and domination, and ending with aggression and sexual needs.