JEDNOSTKA

During the Paris Photo 2024 Jednostka presents the newest works by two distinguished Polish artists – Weronika Gęsicka and Rafał Milach. Encyclopaedia is a compendium of knowledge, which we refer to as a source of trustworthy, reliable information. It’s a database that dispels our doubts. It’s certainty. However, what if but a single mistake creeps into something certain and indisputable? Doesn’t it put everything else into question, prompting one to disregard it as useless? Can knowledge be objective in a world we find out more about each day? In a world where fake news are a daily occurrence? Fake entries are bits of incorrect information in encyclopaedias, dictionaries and lexicons that have existed ever since those sources were first published. These deceitful notes were left by editors as a form of protection against copyright infringement. Some immediately raise suspicion regarding their factuality, while others would probably slip in unnoticed by most. Although these are usually singular cases, there are several publications riddled with such ‘mistakes.’ Still, they would hardly be detected among the tens of thousands of other definitions. ‘Encyclopaedia’ is a project which comprises hundreds of such false entries found in various encyclopedias, dictionaries and lexicons from different places and time periods. Weronika Gęsicka presents all of them using manipulated stock photographs and AI-generated images. The actual publications including such entries, bought by the artist at online auctions, are also displayed. Here, the truth functions on the same grounds as fiction. During the Paris Photo Fair, 'Encyclopaedia' – Gęsicka’s newest book, with the essay by Charlotte Cotton – will have its world premiere. Rafał Milach’s presentation consists of his iconic photos from the ‘Strike’ series, on women strikes against banning abortion in Poland, and his newest ‘Reverse’ collages based on a collection of thousands of books from the 7L – Karl Lagerfeld’s library in Paris. The ‘Strike’ series is a visual record of the protests that began across Poland on October 22nd, 2020, and which persisted in various forms over the ensuing months. The series was followed by the 'Strike' book, which was the result of Milach’s collaboration with other artists and writers. In it, photographs are accompanied by critical texts by visual culture researchers, journalists and activists. As the only ever Polish book, 'Strike' has won the Author Book Award at the Les Rencontres de la Photographie 2022 festival in Arles, France. Immersed in the 7L’s collection (Karl Lagerfeld's library), in the ‘Reverse’ collages Milach investigated the ‘standards of beauty’ that are implicitly conveyed. Selecting a hundred books revolving around the theme of body, beauty and representation, Milach wished to question this ‘ideal’ and the way the predominantly female body is perceived and represented, particularly through the male gaze.