Janek Simon works in video, programming, and computer animation. His works include interactive installations, internet projects, and experimental computer animations. Simon also produces live video performances and music visualization under the pseudonym VjJansi.

His work attempts to filter the overwhelming quantity of information available on the internet and he investigates access to knowledge as well as the increasingly close and ambiguous relationships between culture and economy within neo-liberal capitalism. The strategies he employs can be subversive, sometimes bordering on anarchistic, but always remain at their core pragmatic.

His work Carpet Invaders, 2002, is an interactive installation whereby a computer game is projected onto the floor. The game is a copy of the classic arcade game, Space Invaders, morphed with a 19th century 'oriental' prayer rug. Details of the rug look extremely similar to the original graphics, but are now able to move. The game, projected onto the floor, can be played with a nearby control-pad and acts as a comment on the proliferation of video games and the changing nature of war.

Departure // Take-off, 2003, is a three channel video installation presenting a panoramic view of the Old Town in Krakow. From time to time the bell tower of one of Krakow’s many old gothic churches lifts off like a space shuttle and disappears into the sky. By the end of the video all the churches, which are both major political, religious and cultural icons in the city, are gone.

Home made electronic watch, 2005, was displayed in the Gasworks exhibition Slash Fiction until 27 May. Using the availability of knowledge that exists on the web, Simon set himself a challenge to see how long it would take him to build a digital wristwatch from scratch. Learning the basics of electronics, programming and pcb-making, and DIY methods the watch took less than two months to make.

Open Studio Preview and Billboard Launch Residency artists Janek Simon, Camila Sposati and Zeeshan Muhammad presented works in progress in an Open Studio, and Annalisa Sonzogni launched a project for the Gasworks Billboard. Please see individual artists' pages for further details of their projects.
Preview and launch: Thurs 20th September, 2007. 6-8pm
Open Studio: 21-23 September, 2007. 12-6pm

Links

Polish Cultural Institute