Piotr Szyhalski

I've admired Piotr Szyhalski's work ever since I first saw "Ding an Sich (The Canon Series)" shortly after it was first displayed in 1997. "Ding an Sich'" still remains one of my favourite pieces. Each piece demands user input in order for it to display completely. Some pieces are more complicated than others, but each one is open to interpretation and will behave differently according to the action, or inaction, of the viewer. Each time I see it, I find something different because, as the artist explains on the first page "all works are designed to be "performed" by the viewer, so that with each visit the viewer performs each piece differently.

Szyhalski sometimes works in Macromedia Director, but also employs a very skilled use of HTML in order to create a home page that is not at all ordinary. While I may find his use of dark text on a black background really annoying, a voyage around The Spleen [link updated Jan. 9, 2011] will uncover many thought-provoking pieces. Do they fall into the category of online performance, installation, or public art, I wonder? Or are they part of a whole new art movement which is redefining itself with each passing minute?

The "Inward Vessels of the Spleen" [link updated Jan. 9, 2011] dates from around 1995 or 1996 and is, in my view, the most intricate of the Szyhalski's works. Or maybe it is a really convoluted catalogue of his works. If you venture into the Outer Vessels, you will find that many of the links no longer lead to the originally intended destination. The site is eight years old, after all. [Jan. 9, 2011 - it is now 15 years old and has been relocated, so it's surprising that any of the links are working at all.]

A search on Szyhalski's name on Google will find over 600 pages. [1350 or more on Jan. 9, 2011, including YouTube videos]. Most have to do with his earlier works [now there are many more later works] and I would suggest that you grab a cup of coffee or tea and explore some of those pages.

One site well worth visiting is the one covering his appearance at Carleton College's Digital Art Festival 2003. Along with information on his work and a 'blue' poem, there are video clips of 10 or so other artists. At least they were there a few weeks ago. The page has a "Sorry, but the page was not found" message today. [Dec. 21/06 - The link to the Festival pages is here.]

Here is the 'blue' poem.

The other artist at the festival whose name I recognized was DJ Spooky. He has some interesting things to say. [Jan. 9, 2011 - His website is here.]