Praca magisterska / Master’s Thesis

Oskar Dawicki

Praca magisterska / Master’s Thesis

Oskar Dawicki

☏♕◑

An anonymous and unsuspecting author receives an anonymous online request from the artist himself to write a “scientific paper” titled “The Identity of the Contemporary Artist on the Example of Oskar Dawicki’s Work” (original title: “Tożsamość współczesnego artysty na przykładzie twórczości Oskara Dawickiego”). The author’s name, Jan Wallenrod, appears on the title page. An extensive philosophical apparatus is used with references to Michel Foucault and Emmanuel Levinas (the theme of the Other). Comparisons with Velázquez’s “Las Meninas” are also made. The master’s thesis continues one of the artist’s main themes – the theme of (self)identity – the view of the Other from the perspective of an external observer. In 2002, Oskar hired a private detective to surveil himself. The report, code-named “O,” was also presented as a result of a performative action. Interestingly, the French artist Sophie Calle carried out a similar performance with a hired detective who also knew nothing about their client and the goals of the action.

Print, paper, 64 pages, A4; 3 copies
Located in the collection of Arsenal Gallery in Białystok