Katarzyna Kimak

SAFETY FIRST

Site-specific performance SAFETY FIRST is a multidimensional project in the field of surveillance art, in which I have used modern technologies to create a symbolic space of everyday life immersed in the virtual reality. Two entrances to this interactive installation lead to different zones: a public, where viewers are traced and tracked by the eye of the camera, and a private – a safe zone in which the eye of the camera cannot see the participants of the exhibition. These zones were marked with tape – I have organized and cut the surface. The divisions of space create a new situation close to the aesthetics of geometrical abstraction, a specific spatial gameplay and the surface of reflections from the projection screens transferring the view from the cameras. The entrants complete the images on the walls if they consciously decide to enter the range of the camera. The temptation to be a part of the image overcomes the fear of being seen, acknowledged. Thus, the installation provokes a game revealing human predilections.

The project is a commentary on the phenomenon of universal surveillance and lack of privacy in the era of social media, the Internet and ubiquitous cameras in public space.

(born 1987)
Studies at the Faculty of Media Art of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (first-cycle 2011-2015, second-cycle 2016-2018). Internship under the Erasmus+ programme in Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler Gallery, Berlin (2013). Works in installation, screening, video art and photography. Group exhibitions, including DKV Fresh Art, Universitat Politècnica de València (2016); Art and Critique, gallery of the Academy of Arts in Szczecin (2017); Summer break, Salon Akademii gallery, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (2017). Winner of the Second Prize (residence in Valencia) and Special Award of the 14th edition of the Hestia Artistic Journey competition (2015).