Agata Zwierzyñska

WHO AM I...

Born in Poland (1972) for the past half of my life I have been living in Amsterdam. I was brought up bilingually in Warsaw by a couple of English teachers. Our tiny apartment housed a secret cinema. Unbeknown to the outside world international movie premieres were celebrated behind our drawn dark (iron) curtains. From James Bond through Life on Earth and Disney animations – the phenomenon of globalisation was fed to me naturally.

My communist background collided with this Western world-view. This helped me develop my visual language, a kind of image poetry full of inter-cultural quotes. I studied at the Rietveld Academy & did an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College (London). In 1998 I won the PRIX DE ROME for graphic art with LISTEN®THE TELEPHONE BOOK. Afterwards – still in the pre-social-media world - I quickly learned to generate media-attention & vlogs, performing happenings & producing art projects. Ever since then I have also been actively researching & making studio-based work as a visual artist.

WHAT I DO...

My ART is BOOKS, PROJECTS & PERFORMANCES. I film, draw & photograph. I observe, document, collect, translate, transform & Photoshop. I categorize, organize & archive what I come across. What I can’t find I make myself. I dress up or clothe others. I stop objects in motion or go-with-the(ir)-flow. I collide film with (stop-motion) animation. I reinvent old techniques to fit my ideas (mutoscope). I work together or alone. I commission professionals to grant me friendly services and challenge friends to act as professionals. All of this ends up in my books, small & large, in short movies, animations & installations, or remain stories about performances.