Film
In The Demon’s Brain, a multichannel video installation created expressly for the exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, Agnieszka Polska grapples with the ethical question of how individuals can assume social responsibility amid the overwhelming demands of the present moment. The point of departure for the work is a collection of fifteenth-century letters addressed to Mikołaj Serafin, the custodian of Poland’s salt mines. In her videos, Polska melds live action with animation to tell the fictional story of a young messenger tasked with delivering these letters on horseback. Along the way, the boy loses his horse and he gets lost in the forest. There he has an unexpected encounter with a demon, whose monologue fuses Christian theological ideas with today’s developments concerning resource consumption, environmental destruction, data capital, and artificial intelligence.
Video: bboxx Filme
Exhibition
Agnieszka Polska: The Demon’s Brain
News
Agnieszka Polska wins the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2017, Sandra Wollner wins the Förderpreis für Filmkunst 2017
Preis der Nationalgalerie 2017: Sol Calero, Iman Issa, Jumana Manna und Agnieszka Polska have been nominated
Press releases
Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin | Agnieszka Polska: The Demon’s Brain | 27.9.2018 – 3.3.2019
Nationalgalerie | Agnieszka Polska wins the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2017