Słoniowe fascinandum

In Łódź we have a dancing elephant.

Why is it so interesting at least one elephant does not make spring. 

It began on November 22, 2021 when we accepted the invitation of Tomek Ciesielski, an artist-researcher from the University of Lodz/New Theatre. In the spaces of the palace at ul. Skłodowska-Curie 11 implemented the programme of the New Theatre and the University of Łódź entitled “Getting to know a dancing elephant. Contemporary performative research". It consisted of three parts: the exhibition "Work Practice and Workplace", the external installation "Method and Tool" and a weekend of performance activities and shows. The idea of the programme referred to an ancient Indian parable about six men who came across an elephant. Each of them was a blind person. One of them grabbed the tail, the next ones bounced off the hard skin of the leg or touched the large ear. Each of them therefore recognized differently what an elephant was: for the first it was like a rope, for the others it was a rigid wall or a large fan. The findings of each of them were direct and certain – true – yet fragmentary. 

For Tomek and other research artists, the elephant (art, community, experience) is a being in constant motion. He moves, discovering a different part of himself to each of them every now and then and forcing them to act. In this cognitive dance, the elephant also recognizes itself, which again changes its state. Contemporary performative research deals in a special way with ephemeral problems, objects, events and experiences in the process, which - like an elephant - are constantly in motion, not indifferent to the fact of getting to know them.