“State of mind” – for the love of art, the city and design.

A unique ceramic installation is changing the urban space in Lodz. “State of mind” is the result of cooperation between Ceramika Paradyż, Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń, artist Bartek Bojarczuk of illCAT studio and Łódź Design Festival in 2018. The mosaic can be admired on the side wall of the building at 93 Zachodnia St.

“State of mind” is a project combining elements of both ceramic mosaic and mural, referring directly to Polish urban planning traditions of the 1970s and 1980s. It is the only realization of its kind in Poland, and most likely in Europe and the world. For the project, 900 precisely cut elements were used, including 60 m2 of four collections of glazed gres by Ceramika Paradyż, with different shades and textures arranged in an illustrative composition, thanks to the precise water jet technology, which involves cutting under high pressure with water and quartz sand. As many as 3,200 cutting lines were made for the project, and the entire installation reached a size of 12.2 x 7.8 meters.

Projekt powstał z myślą o okolicy, w której miał się znajdować, tak by budynek i przestrzeń wokół zyskały zupełnie nowe oblicze. Do stworzenia tej nietypowej mozaiki, która nie tylko dopełnia industrialny klimat miasta, ale wpisuje się w jego „streetart’owy” charakter zaproszony został pochodzący z Tomaszowa Maz. artysta Bartek Bojarczuk. Autor stara się odpowiedzieć na trudne pytanie, jak zwizualizować coś tak ulotnego jak ludzkie myśli.

– The work depicts the inside of the mind and is an attempt to show what is very fleeting, namely human thoughts. The forms of splitting and the different ways we imagine in a split second were captured in an image and stopped with a magic remote control, on which a “pause” was pressed. Through this paused moment, I wanted to draw the attention of any passerby to how much is going on in our heads, and to emphasize that although a flurry of thoughts pulls us down, we struggle to make that right decision. This should make us think, to slow down for a moment and reflect on the chaos we create in our own heads. – describes the author of the project, Bartek Bojarczuk.

The project is a transfer of the artist’s vision to the wall and is based on geometric shapes that form an illustration, but thanks to the materials and technology used, it is a completely new and unprecedented form of expression.