Imagery of hope: an interview with Barbara Gryka and Agata Konarska

Barbara Gryka and Agata Konarska are two emerging interdisciplinary Polish artist that joined forces after their “Magic Carpet” residencies in Lithuania in 2023. Their ongoing mutual project “City of Sun”, inspired by drawings of Ukrainian children refugees in Poland and in Lithuania, will be exhibited in the “Superorganism” event in Tartu, Estonia, this autumn. We sat down to talk with the artists about their involvement in the upcoming event, arts-based community engagement and positive nature of video games.

Tell me about your multi-layered project “City of Sun”.

Barbara Gryka: It all started with some workshops I did during which I asked children who had to leave Ukraine due to war about the ideal place to live. They ended up building these beautiful paper houses. They were so hopeful.

Agata Konarska: Based on this I created VR experience, which consists of 3D scans of bombarded Ukrainian buildings overlaid with the textures of the houses created by children. For the “Superorganism” event we are turning it into an actual video game.

Barbara: We have also made some animal sculptures of clay together. These bison, lynx, stork and eagle like surreal creatures were inspired by Eastern mythology, but they look more like something a child would imagine. The process of molding them served us as an opportunity to talk about the work. These animals will appear in a video game as well.

What each of you find important and inspiring when working separately?

Agata: I find it important to create immersive experiences, rather than just art. There is a huge difference between going to the gallery just to look at something and being able to go there and interact with an artwork. I want to create rituals. I’m most interested in religious, political and ecological topics.

Barbara: I like to collaborate with people who have nothing to do with the art world, like motorcyclists. I also enjoy working with other artist, even if we don’t share the exact same interests. Choreography and Poland are big inspirations for me. I’m also interested in politics. I find inspiration everywhere. Mostly on social media, like Tik Tok and Youtube. But it can be just something I see on a street, or while interacting with my neighbors, friends and strangers.

Barbara, is it easy to approach communities that usually have nothing to do with an art world? Are they eager to collaborate with you? Or, does it take some convincing to do?

Barbara: It is easier than you might think. I’m being honest with people I approach for my art projects. I give them what I want to get from them in exchange. It’s all about having a conversation and sharing the same emotion.

The collaborative approach, involving various non-art communities, becomes more and more popular in the contemporary art field. That is something that ‘Magic Carpet’ stands for as well. Why do you think that is happening?

Agata: I believe it becomes more and more common because we live in the times of individuals. And I think we’ve got a little bored of that individual-centered type of thinking. We miss each other a little bit and we feel that there is certain power in the group.

Barbara: Yeah, it’s true.

Which brings us back to the notion of superorganism. How do you see it in terms of your project ‘City of Sun’?

Barbara: We put our lives in Poland into a perspective. We are able to lead a normal, good quality life here. But just across the border, there is a country which has been at war for the last free years. So, through this project and through the notion of superorganism, we explore what is the boarder and where the boarder is.

Agata: We also use the notion of superorganism to talk about the community of gamers. Internet itself is a superorganism.

Are you a gamer yourself?

Agata: No. I used to play a little as a child. I’m more into the RPG (role-playing) games, where players engage with the game world through characters by interacting with other players.

Barbara: It’s a bit like a performance piece.

What was your favorite game as a kid?

Barbara: “Super Mario”, of course! And “The Sims”.

Agata: Same.

The notion of the game itself is so inviting. When an artwork becomes a game, it’s like anybody can join without any preconceived ideas of what art is. Everybody can play.

Agata & Barbara in choir: Yes!

Agata: When we presented this project in Kronika Center for Contemporary Art in Bytom, Poland, a lot of elderly people came to visit. They were enjoying the VR experience just as much as children did.

Barbara: Also, I noticed that the first few days of that exhibition were visited by a larger number of men than women, which is not very usual.

Other than encouraged to join the game, how do you want people to feel in this exhibition?

Agata: We want it to feel like going someplace right after the big rain. Some things are starting to grow and some just need to dry out.