My work aims to provoke questions and challenge contemporary social and cultural perspectives on death, the quality of life, and reflections on the essence of humanity from philosophical, futurological, and technological standpoints. The narrative surrounding our corporeality seeks to initiate a dialogue about topics that have been taboo or socially marginalized in Poland, including burial laws, medical bioengineering, technology in medical services, shifts in the perception of the deceased body, and aspects of loss. Such discourse has the potential to unveil needs and solutions for the advancement of bioengineering in Poland. The emerging concept of transhumanism addresses elements of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death, considering them unnecessary and undesirable, though often remaining conceptual or aspirational.

Modern society’s increasing detachment from death, coupled with a culture fixated on perpetual youth and the defiance of death through scientific means, amplifies the fear of confronting mortality in daily life. Photography serves as a medium deeply entwined with these issues. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, post-mortem photography was prevalent for various reasons, including the more frequent encounter with death in everyday life and the desire to preserve memories through photographs, even in death. It embodies the simultaneous acknowledgment and avoidance of loss, preserving consciousness indefinitely.

My inspiration draws from a wide spectrum of art, including the Renaissance, which has long grappled with themes of death and humanity within the context of its respective times, needs, and ideologies, as well as from law, technological advancements, and observations of social behavior.

2018 – 2019

curator: Maja Kaszkur

Transition
Deceased body of a woman

Flakes
Microscopic image of the tissues printed with bioink

Bioprinter 3D
Tissue Engineering. Foundation of Research and Science Development
is working on bionic pancreatic flakes tissue.

Piotr Sajdak
Masterchef TV show participant, personal trainer, TEDx speaker.

Forbidden
The body of a man, whose death was a result of choking on a peel of fruit from theft.

Group Portrait
Pacemakers removed from the bodies before the cremation process. Some older generation furnaces may be damaged when the pacemaker explodes. The device can explode when high combustion temperatures are reached.

Silos
Storage containers for deasesed human bodies and brains in liquid nitrogen temperature, enabling theis cryopreservation.

Object
Element of a human.

Tension
Deceased human body.

Influx
Thanatopraxia is, inter alia, a procedure stopping putrefactive processes. A specially prepared solution is injected into the arteries. The procedure is performed for the needs of public display of the body after death and for long-range body transportation. The chemistry used in this process is harmful to the environment, which is why some German Länder have banned embalming.

Replacements
Parts made of precious metals: acetabular hip , screws, plates and other elements remaining after the cremation of bodies.
Separated from the ashes of the deceased, they go to the recycling process.

Sylwester Wilk
Trainer, dietitian, athlete.

Layout
Physical model of prosthetic hand with pneumatic muscles. Diploma thesis by Yaroslav Antonchyk in Automatic Control and Robotics Department at the Opole University of Technology.

Plexus
After completion of the section, all organs are placed in a plastic bag and then go to the abdominal cavity. Finally, technicians stitch the body.

Mindhand
Bionic prosthesis prototype created by Sławomir Grycuk (PhD student at Białystok University of Technology) using 3D printing technics.

Nexus
Fragment of a limb prosthesis.

Flake
Microscopic image of pancreatic flake printed with bioink.

Linked
Removing a pacemaker. The elliptical part of the device was placed under the skin, metal electrodes led straight to the organ.