Questions about the artworks: Invitation to participatory contemplation

My engagement with the works of Zofia Pociłowska brought many questions and associations to mind. I wrote some of them down. Using these questions as prompts, I invite you to contemplate the work of your choice. I encourage you to look more closely at the work and develop your own thoughts about it and the place where it is displayed.

Drawing on my experiences as a social worker and student of Gender Studies, I chose this participatory approach to give you space for your own ideas as a viewer.

I recommend that you go to the sculpture that spontaneously captures your attention.

Regarding perception

What is your first impression when you look at the sculpture? Can you describe a feeling?
Does the sculpture remind you of something or someone?
Walk around the sculpture a few times to view it from all sides. What words would you use to characterize the work?

Regarding the relationship between this sculpture and other works

The works by Zofia Pociłowska in this exhibition were created under various circumstances and at different times. They are very different works.

Does your chosen sculpture bear any similarity to the other works exhibited here? What connects the artworks? Do you notice shared themes?
How would you describe the relationship between your chosen sculpture and the other exhibited pieces? Feel free to walk through the works another time and look at them from various viewpoints, close up and far away. What effect does the sculpture have when viewed from different perspectives and in combination with the other works?

Regarding the relationship between place and sculpture

Is the exhibition your first stop on this visit to the Memorial or have you already spent some time here?
Perhaps you would like to take a moment to look inward. How does the way you currently feel influence your perception of the sculpture?
Can you think of another location that would suit the work? Where is this place? What does it look like? You can write down your thoughts. Feel free to sketch out the sculpture in the place you have envisioned—either as a drawing or using keywords.
How does your perception of the work change when you imagine it in another place?

Mona Horst, Gender Studies student