Piotr Szyhalski: The Spleen

Boliou 104, 7 p.m. [Sponsored by the Department of Art & Art History]

Piotr Szyhalski came to the United States in 1990 from his native Poland to teach at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and has since maintained a furious pace of teaching, publishing, performing, and exhibiting his work internationally; and winning grants and awards. Possessing two MFAs from the Academy of Visual Arts in Poznan, Poland--one in drawing, the other in poster design--Szyhalski began producing art on the Internet in 1995. His work “The Spleen” has been featured in numerous publications, including Wired, Hotwired, I.D., The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Applied Arts, Public Art Review, Details, Speak, Blvd., WEB, Minnesota Monthly, City Pages, Star Tribune, and Pioneer Press. At MCAD, Szyhalski mentors graduate students and teaches graphic design, illustration, Fine Arts, and Liberal Arts, including his popular “POLIT-PROP: Art for the Broad Masses of the People,” through which students study the historical and contemporary concepts of propoganda art. His recent work has focused on installation, sound and performing stage-based works. His new show will open at the Minneapolis Institute of Art on October 9. Piotr Szyhalski is Associate Professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD).

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Szyhalski on “The Spleen”: Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines “spleen” as: the seat of emotions and passions; the source of laughter; any of various passions or emotions or their manifestations; violent mirth or merriment; laughter; a fit of anger, malice, or bad temper; a sudden impulse; caprice; a proud courageous impetuous temper; manly spirit; high-spiritedness; latent malevolence or spite; violent feelings of anger or spite especially when suddenly and explosively released; extreme lowness of spirit; depression; melancholy.

As the People's Blood Reservoir, The SPLEEN works towards the growth and nourishment of the cultural capital of the Masses. Recognizing the Internet as a vital environment for intellectual enrichment, The SPLEEN serves the People by way of artistic proposition built on the belief in the Three Guiding Principles:

1: Art is an experience induced by the ideas communicated through the language of forms. Only the spiritual is important, but only the material exists. Objects are mere representations of ideas: they serve as a direct expression of our hope for art, and are not the art itself.

2: There is only one art, and the one art is indivisible. The ideal of art knows no divisions: media, styles, and disciplines refer to the material character of the work, thus prove irrelevant.

3: Art belongs to the People. The fulfillment of any artistic proposition depends on the People's participation in the dialogue. Parties involved in the presentation as well as perception of the information equally share the responsibility and privilege of ownership.

The Spleen
Contact Sheet 113 [Exhibition at Light Work“ Fall, 2001]
The Final Analysis
Steve Dietz on ”The Final Analysis“
Ding an sich