The Dynamics of Reactivation: Going Back on their Word or How Not to Trust Twożywo Art Group

Abstract

The article offers the analysis of Twożywo – a group of Polish artists active since the middle of the 1990s. The group is formed by Mariusz Libel and Krzysztof Sidorek who produce street art and net art projects, as well as graphic art or design. The point of departure for the analysis is a 2000 retrospective album of the group Let’s Plunder the Ruins of Everyday (Plądrujemy ruiny rzeczywistości). It is a meticulously designed and artistically edited publication which has been seen by critics and commentators as a definitive summation of the group’s activities. The article tries to argue against the thesis of it being the monograph which marks the end of the artists’ creative presence. Instead of a final retrospective view the book provides yet another artistic project which explores the possibilities of an artbook format, using it as a clear expression of an artistic vision in which the works of Twożywo have been exhibited in the form of a printed artefact. The book, therefore, tests new paths for expression of the conventional book or retrospec­tive album in which the known artworks and projects are visualised in a different environment and medium. The added value of the article is its effort to correct some factual information about Twożywo and their work. This concerns especially the moment of the group’s alleged termination of activity, which they themselves announced in 2011; yet, so far they have seemed unable to cease creating new work, also after the publication of the retrospective book. It does not end their presence on the artworld scene, merely redirecting their activity towards other, original projects.