SOLASTALGIA

Solastalgia is a term coined in 2010 by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht. It describes the stress caused by environmental changes, an inconsolable state of mourning, and a longing for home, despite never having left it. Home is changing all around us—landscapes and natural ecosystems are degrading at a rate we cannot emotionally process. In many places around the world, the natural landscape has been completely destroyed by human civilization. It’s not just war and large-scale industry that have a devastating impact on ordinary life—the sum of hundreds of thousands of homes, small businesses, workplaces, shops, and transportation facilities has caused a landscape catastrophe.

Szymon Rogiński captures the space of Polish towns using both a telephoto lens and a wide-angle camera mounted on a drone. He captures intimate emotions, the moving efforts of its inhabitants, and the catastrophic impact of the whole. He questions our presence, both in the material and virtual worlds.

The exhibition consists of four photographic series displayed on monitors: “Internets,” “Kebabs,” “Alcohol,” and “Tombstones.” The exhibition is complemented by a sound installation and a work titled “Solastalgia,” realized in virtual reality. Rogiński tests the possibilities of photographic-derived media and migrates between material and virtual reality. He creates VR space by scanning reality, and vice versa. He creates material objects based on the virtual world – three-dimensional sculptures depicting disturbingly deformed architecture and expressive, almost painterly prints of VR stills.

In the Polish landscape, traces of socialist central planning from the 1950s to the 1980s coexist with remnants of the architectural flourishes of the unfettered, albeit low-budget, entrepreneurship of the transformation era, all being supplanted by late capitalism, which efficiently concreted the land for highways and shipping centers. It’s clear that social change also occurred in the field of building materials. Wood, bricks, and roofing felt were replaced by plastic “sailing” and elaborate concrete fences, followed by aluminum, glass, and asbestos. However, time did not flow at the same speed everywhere. In the suburban backstreets, the transformation never ended and did not lead to success. Szymon Rogiński delves into the intricacies of vernacular architecture, capturing the intimate rituals of urbanization on a microscale. Internet cafes and computer repair shops reveal the provincial face of digitalization and the ubiquity of the internet. The migration crisis and parochial nationalism are symbolized by kebabs – cheap eateries successfully run by migrants from the Middle East, despite their clientele openly harboring chauvinistic, anti-immigration views. The neighborhood’s social life flows smoothly between the kebab stand and the 24-hour Alkohole shop. The latest photographic series is titled “Tombstones.” It touches on contemporary spiritual loss and the commercialization of the sacred. Ugly, poor, and a bit comical… yet Rogiński’s photographs are, in their own way, beautiful and moving. Imbued with sympathy for humanity’s constant striving and compassion for the individual’s helplessness in the face of global change and macroeconomic processes.

Agnieszka Tarasiuk

Solastalgia VR Team

Concept and Direction: Szymon Rogiński
Collaboration: Agnieszka Tarasiuk
Photogrammetry: Szymon Rogiński
Music and Sound: Macio Moretti / Gustaw Gliwiński
Digital Artists: Pavlo Mazur, Matrix Navrot, Jagoda Wójtowicz
VR Application Production: Marcin Marczyk
Programming: Łukasz Nizik
Graphic Design: Michał Babski
Production: Narodowy Instytut Architektury i Urbanistyki

Exhibition curator: Agnieszka Tarasiuk
Organizer: Fundacja Voelkel
Co-organizers: Concordia Design Wrocław, Uniwersytet SWPS branch in Wrocław, grafika swps, Galeria FOTO-GEN
Patron: Mercedes-Benz Grupa Wróbel
Supporting partner: Bulvary, Centrum Witelona w Legnicy, Galeria FOTO-GEN
Partner: BWA Wrocław, GUA Collective, Galeria OKO, Wrocławska Loża Fotograficzna
Technological support: Eidotech Polska, Fotamorgana.pl, Canon Polska
Media patron: Magazyn Classicauto, Radio RAM

This public project is co-financed by funds received from the Municipality of Wrocław.

The project is co-financed by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship budget.