Weronika Gęsicka – ENCYCLOPAEDIA

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.

Curatorial tour of Weronika Gesicka’s exhibition Encyclopaedia
23.06.2024 (Sunday), 2:00 pm
Ticket: PLN 8, with the Fotofestiwal pass admission free
By: Dominika Pawełczyk

Curators: Dominika Pawełczyk, Katarzyna Sagatowska

Funded by the Artistic Journey of Hestia Foundation.
Co-financed by the City of Lodz and Fotofestiwal – International Festival of Photography in Lodz.
Partner: The Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation and STU ERGO Hestia S.A. and JEDNOSTKA Gallery.

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Miejska Galeria Sztuki (City Art Gallery) in Łódź – Re:Medium Gallery, Piotrkowska 113

DID YOU KNOW that there used to be a toy shop at Piotrkowska 113?

The City Art Gallery is the oldest art institution in Łódź, created to promote contemporary art. It was established in 1924. Nowadays, it has four different locations, including the address at Piotrkowska 113. That impressive tenement was built between 1911 and 1912 by Albert Böhme, according to the design of Romuald Müller. Böhme established a fancy shop with leather goods, luxury items and toys there. The house also contained a delicatessen shop of Paweł Ignatowicz, a weaving devices factory of Aron Lejzor Taksin, and a wallpaper store of a prominent local merchant, Adolf Butschkat, which was later relocated to Gdańska 95.