Marcin Dudek
2 panels 145 x 97 cm each
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Marcin Dudek explores themes related to the politics of identity, social structures, and human experiences, often working from football fan cultures as a point of departure. Drawing from his experiences in post-communist Poland, he examines reconciliation through moments of collision between between past and present, old and new, the spectacle and the imperceptible, permanent and temporary His works are a means to locate a sense of stability amid the vulnerability of emotion, memory, and fallibility.
The work is one amongst a series of collages created through Dudek’s meticulous image transfer technique, a laborious process of rubbing emulsified archival photographs onto steel, medical tape, and other materials, which are cut into strips then rearranged. Breaking free from regular lattices and the conventional modularity of painting, they mimic the somewhat haphazard scaffoldings at construction sites. Dudek questions the utilitarianism of scaffolding, relating its temporality to the seasonal nature of migrant workers and their delible status within fast developing cities.
His practice is highly empathetic of the working class and those on the periphery of society. Though grounded in the narratives of football fan culture and the broader discourse around national, even global, spectacles, Game Time Choices gently nudges at matters close to home, reminding us of the migrant issues that are also prevalent in Singapore.
Dudek’s work transcends football to address larger socio-political concerns, and the complexities of fragmented memory, violence and trauma. In doing so, he speaks to our cardinal desire to find a sense of belonging and place within a group, while resisting obscurity amid the masses.
