Architectural plan of the building mapped on the floor surface, Concrete blocks with engraved numbers of works.T he modernization of the building was carried out with the help of EU funds.
„The charackter ofTrafostacja Sztuki – witch in itself is a showpiece of the narrative about the use of EU funds and the impact it has on the understanding of culture – also played a role in the exhibition’s architecture designed by Karolina Babinska. The scenographer transposed the floor plan of the building onto the floor of the main exhibition hall. The floor plan, outlined in white on a gray surface was simplified and shifted by several centimeters compared to the actual blueprint. Thus, Babinska gave expression to her long-therm, continued creative interests: accumulating ambivalence, playing with the viewer and questioning the space in witch the exhibition takes place. In the context of the theme of the exhibition, the function of Babinska’s design was twofold. Firstly, it made the floor plan visible to the visitors and drew their attention to the gallery as a physical space as well as to the history of modernization. It transformed the „background” of the exhibition into a part of its narrative. Secondly, the fact of having placed the layout of the gallery space onto the floor of the exhibition hall gave rise to the metaphor of the EU as „a project” – it suggested looking at the European Union as it as a modernization project and undertaking witch, like a project, is comprehensive, limited in time and directed at a particular goal.”
from the publication and catalogue text: THE YEAR 2004 AND THE DREAM OF ONE EUROPE – Jakub Gawkowski
