Mateusz Gawrysiak
Come and Take a Seat
Come and Take a Seat is a project about perspective and everyday life. It’s composed of two visually disjoined photography series. The first one in black and white shows universalized figures of people walking alone through public spaces – it references the “come” in the title. The other series is focused on pictures of empty chairs outdoors – it’s a visual invitation to “take a seat”.
Connecting photos from both series can serve as a way of deconstructing daily life into periods of sitting and walking, which are one of the most elemental actions one can take. It’s an encouragement to focus on simplicity and a visual riddle: Who is going to sit where? Where are they coming from? Where are they coming to? Why? One thing is for certain - everyone walking will eventually take a seat and everyone sitting will eventually walk.
In this way Come and Take a Seat proposes a new perspective where time is not being measured in seconds, but rather in chairs. By interacting with this project one can visualize and examine multitudes of perspectives and find new meanings in everyday life. It’s a celebration of a timeless notion of taking a seat.
Artist Bio
Mateusz Gawrysiak is an artist from Poland. In his practice he builds upon his past experiences and his desire for a better world. He works mainly with photography - in a collaborative and documentary way. When he is taking photos of a group of people he takes time to become a part of them. Community building and organic collaborations are important to him. Another area of interest is the interaction with the viewer - how to make a positive impact with art at all the stages of the process?