The Beginning (by Hubert Czerepok)

“The exhibition consists of video installations. The first one, a three-channel screening, features the footage shot at the site of archeological excavations in Karahan Tepe, Turkey, where the oldest human place of worship was dis-covered. Dating back to 10,000 BC, it is often referred to as the cradle of civilization. The site features a setting of oval structures made of adhering megalithic pillars, built before the Neolithic Revolution (i.e., the historical breakthrough in agriculture and animal breeding). It is a mystery what community managed to construct the complex. The identity and motivation of the people who buried the sanctuary 1500 years later remain unknown as well.”

“Hubert Czerepok examines a number of theories about the origins of this extraordinary place. He compares the travel into such distant past with Mars exploration missions and makes reference to Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Stalker, in which the narrative is told by three characters: the Writer (man of arts), the Professor (man of science) and the Stalker (symbol of spirituality). In Czerepok’s film, these three perspectives are embodied by three robots: Mars rovers called Red; Next; and Stalker, respectively. The second work, a four-channel video, tells the story of the post-industrial cable car system in the Georgian town of Chiatura. Originally developed to serve the employees of the nearby mines, it had been operating without interruptions since 1953. Sixty years later, it remained the most convenient and fastest public transportation systems for the local commuters. Since it was fare free, the network served as an example of a civic undertaking.”

“The artist had managed to complete the project just before the system was modernized in the autumn of 2016.The third work is a para-documentary about DNA testing of the first Piasts. It presents a hypothesis of their foreign origin that was first put forward in the 19th century. One of its initial supporters was Karol Szajnoch. In 1858, he came up with a thesis according to which Scandinavian immigrants called Lachs came to the Polish land in the 6th century. Another version of the theory was proposed as early as in 1918. Two German historians, Lambert Schulte and Robert Holtzmann referred to the document entitled Dagome iudex, according to which Mieszko I put the territory of Poland under papal protection. The scholars linked the first historical king of Poland, referred to as Dagome in the document, with the Danish chief Dago, who had conquered the lands along the Warta river around 960. For the last two years, the mysterious origins of Mieszko I and the Piast dynasty have been the subject of a research project carried out by the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań.

“The last video featured in the exhibition, Lux Aeterna, is a film of captivating beauty and illusionary tranquility. Its visual layer makes reference to romantic painting, while the verbal one combines statements from the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Adolf Hitler, Ted Kaczynski (American domestic terrorist), and the manifesto of Anders Breivik, with excerpts from Juliusz Słowacki’s Kordian. It is no coincidence the film was shot in Norway in the year in which Breivik perpetrated his massacre while listening to the sounds of Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell.”

“Czerepok’s film is perverse, but it raises our awareness of how easily we can align ourselves with the ideas and attitudes we are fundamentally opposed to and we fight against. It reflects upon how we can lose our vigilance, succumb to a delusion and believe in beautiful words. The works combine fiction with science, they propose mutiple hypotheses and theories, broadening our view of the complex and ambiguous reality and leaving the question of the origins of our civilization open.”

[this text is from the following website: http://trafo.art/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KOMUNIKAT-PRASOWY_HUBERT-CZEREPOK_THE-BEGINNING.pdf]

For more information about The Beginning, in its various installations follow these links:

https://blokmagazine.com/the-beginning-by-hubert-czerepok-at-arsenal-gallery-in-bialystok/

http://trafo.art/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KOMUNIKAT-PRASOWY_HUBERT-CZEREPOK_THE-BEGINNING.pdf

https://zacheta.art.pl/en/wystawy/hubert-czerepok-poczatek?filters=eyJhY3RpdmUiOjEsInR5cGUiOlsiZXhoaWJpdGlvbiIsInNwb2pyemVuaWEiXSwiZGF0ZV9mcm9tIjp7InZhbHVlIjoiMjAx

For more information about Hubert and his other work, look here:

https://culture.pl/en/artist/hubert-czerepok

http://www.zak-branicka.com/en/artists/hubert-czerepok?x=works

https://artfacts.net/artist/hubert-czerepok/25038