2019

JANUSZ NONIEWICZ, DOMINIKA WIRKOWSKA “DIE VERWIRRUNGEN: HOW TO BE A YOUNG FASHION DESIGNER AND (NOT) STICK YOUR DICK IN A GLORY HOLE?”

Project “Die Verwirrungen: How to be a young fashion designer and (not) stick your dick in a glory hole?” has been developed and realised in collaboration with professors Wojciech Małolepszy, Robert Pludra and Fashion Department students: Julia Kościeńska, Przemysław Falarz, Paulina Szczepańska, Alicja Konarska, Daria Wierzbicka, Jan Kardas, Maria Olszewska, Emil Litwiniec, Radek Smędzik, as well as Design Departament students: Halina Wierzbowska, Anna Gwiazda, Antonina Bylinka, Aleksandra Jankowska, Kacper Kunicki, Adam Szpil, Agnieszka Cieszanowska, Dorota Chwedoruk, Ada Krenz, Katrzyna Brągiel, Agnieszka Renes, Olga Darwaj, Julia Sulkowska, Natalia Gil, Brunon Kowalski.
Within it, a special music/sound project, “Das Rezitativ,” was commissioned, which involved Margarita Slepakova and Clemens Flechter, and a song, “Alerta Antifascista,” was performed by Malik Sharif and Christina Lessiak (Circle A).
Three video-collages and various sets of co-related performative devices were created during the research program, which sought to address fashion as a socially engaged practice. They were the results of the seminar “Could fashion designers be happy?” realised by Janusz Noniewicz and Dominika Wirkowska, leaders of the Fashion Department of Fine Art Academy in Warsaw, in cooperation with fashion and design students and Wojciech Małolepszy, Robert Pludra, professors of PP2 - Pracownia Podstaw Projektowania 2 Wydział Wzornictwa.
The video collage is composed of photos, videos, textile samples, sounds, and objects made by designers, students, and artists who took part in this seminar, which questioned the distinction between ‘being active’ and ‘being passive’ as both a creative individual and a member of contemporary society. 
The initial inspiration for this collaborative work came from Robert Musil’s novel “Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless” and Volker Schlöndorff’s film “Der Junge Törless.”
It is conceived as process-based work that changes through the different phases of the “Transfashional” project, starting in London, evolving in Warsaw, and reaching a finalised form shown at the final exhibition event at MQ in Vienna. 

Janusz Noniewicz & Dominika Wirkowska have worked together as an artistic duo since 2014; Noniewicz is a writer, curator, and visual artist; he is the director of the Fashion Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Wirkowska is an artist and graphic designer. They are leaders of the artistic and educational programme “Could a fashion designer be happy?”, focused on the body, gender, politics, fashion, art, and literature. As artists, they work on collaborative projects with performers, musicians, filmmakers, and non-professionals.