In September and October as part of the project Thursdays with the Collection, we present Janek Simon’s animation Take Off (2003–2004). In the projection you can see smoke billowing round the most recognisable buildings in Krakow’s Old Town, with the soundtrack of a racket taking off. One after another, the Town Hall tower, and the towers of St Mary’s Basilica and the Wawel Cathedral are fired into the sky. The work is ambiguous: this could be be interpreted as a catastrophic vision or, conversely, as the city freeing itself from the oppressive ballast of history and opening up to contemporaneity. The title (the alternative Polish meaning of which is: tripping out) seems to imply, however, that the latter alternative can only be experienced in a drug-induced vision.

Janek Simon (1977, Poland) – videos, objects, artistic actions. In his art, he analyses the banality of virtual reality, proposing surreal and ironic ways to use objects while altering their original function.

The screenings take place throughout the day during the Museum’s opening hours: 11 am – 7 pm. Admission to the MOCAK Collection exhibitions is free of charge on Thursday.