Mornung

One day when was in Aarhus, I escaped from our group to The Aarhus Museum. I wandered around the building having been able to find the exhibition I was interested the most. Finally I found the floor with an inscription “Contemporary art”, but still I couldn’t find the door into it. And suddenly a glass wall opened especially for me. It scared me. I know, that was stupid. Please don’t thing that I’m afraid of the doors in supermarkets or I’ve never been in a museum. There was something else: like invitation to a treasures. It erased a question: “Really can I get in?” First two pictures were by Preben Mornung. That was the treasures of the museum for me. My favorites colors: blue, white, black, brawn. My favorite stile: a bit similar to Joanna Rajkowska’s paintings when she was at The Academy.
I had a cup of coffee at Copenhagen airport. Usually it is not very nice, it is just practical. This time I found a very marvelous place – with a view to an apron. I observed machines serving aircrafts, which looked like spiders attacking a victim ;). I like aircrafts very much, so two MD and an Airbus were heroes for the evening for me.
In the picture: a wheel of the Havilland Q400 (from Aarhus to Copenhagen in June this year).

Camaldolite

The Camaldolite monastery is in Bielany near to Kraków. This is a strict monastic rule. Monks live in isolated monastery. They get up at 4 o’clock every day. They work hardly and pray a lot. They don’t meet people. It is not allowed to women to visit the monastery during whole year with the exception for 12 days. One of them is Christmas. I'm not religious but decided to go to the monastery for the Watching Service.
We left our car somewhere in the forest (there was probably the first parking place, in the way to the monastery). We were walking to the church very slowly in a group of other people for about 15 minutes. Frost, snow, darkness, silence… Much closer to Christmas then usual commercialized space… In the church: monks, a lot of
People singing… They don’t use any instruments, just human voices. It is very exceptional.

supermarket

I have a new washing machine. I’m very happy of it. This is big effort to buy something before Christmas… You can’t imagine how many stupid question about an ordinary TV set can a person ask and how many people wants to buy such a thing just before Christmas. My old washing machine was not enough kind to wait with its technical extinction for few weeks more and it sentenced me of observing it and being in that crowd.
In the photo: another angel. There is a lot of such angels in Kraków now. Much more suits to Christmas then a supermarket, isn’t it?

An Angel

The time of angles is coming.
In the photo: It is not Christmas Angel. I’ve found it in my hometown Rzeszów. It looks a bit ghostly, doesn’t it?

A Chinese pencil box

When I was a child it was very up-to-date and modern to have a Chinese pencil box. At that time it was really difficult to buy such a thing. My parents were not adjusted for living in our communistic country and didn’t have skills to organize anything illegally, how it used to be in those times. Because of that, my pencil box was reminding a dream. One day, in my favorite stationary shop I found such a pencil box with squirrels. It was hidden under the desk. I asked my father to buy it for me. He, who new the reality of the time, didn’t believe me, that it was available, but finally he decided to go with me there. Unfortunately, a shop attendant said that she had the pencil box, but it wasn’t for sale. I got depressed. But my father said to the shop attendant to show him a book for making complains (that was funny but useful in that strange reality). She got scared and decided to sell this pencil box. I thought then, that my father was the bravest man in the world.

Aarhus some month ago

Everything everywhere here is simple and modest. Buildings and furniture is perfectly adjusted to a user need. Beauty comes form this simplicity. Simple walls made of bricks are covered by grapevine. When you look through the window whilst working at university, you can see the green space which looks like an endless meadow. It is useful, isn’t it? You can have a while of rest. It improves your concentration on the work if you can look at green surface for a moment. I like art around us. On the hotel walls hang pictures with dishes in abstract form. On streets there are sculptures showing scenes of everyday life. Also murals are simple and close to the people. I love this flower in a flowers pot.

llull

According to my private tradition I went to The Aboa Vetus & Ars Nowa Museum to look again for my favorite showpiece. This time it was a graphic of Antoni Tapies, from the series “Llull”. It was generally white. On cardboard there was embossed big rectangle like a frame. In corners of the rectangle there were small squares each one with a dot in the middle. Those squares were painted with gray color. There was a cross or a plus sign in the middle of the composition. It was also white, however shadows were underlined by black. It was nice, but after all I preferred the museum itself. It was like a Russian Matrioszka: in one doll there is a second doll, and so on and so on… The remains of medieval city – an archeological exhibition was like the smallest one doll. The medium doll was the main building of the museum. It protected the remains and other exhibitions halls. The building was buddle up by gardens and patios with additional things like shop and restaurant. So sitting in the restaurant you could, being inside, look for the museums wall from outside.
In the photo: a mural on the on the most external wall, probably referring to medieval part of the exhibition.

to breake ice

So we are in Turku now. The first meeting we had yesterday morning. It took place in the old part of the University. In a meeting room we spotted a big technical construction – some kind of device. We of course were curious what it was, but we didn’t ask. We started to talk about, usual in such situation, things: what is common for us, where we are coming from and what we would like to do during the meeting. The question about the device was asked in the end.
The host smiled and said to as that we had been very patient. Usually a conversation about the device breaks ice between strange people and helps to start a conversation. So what it was? It was an electron microscope. It was left in that place when a university museum was moved to a new place. It also will be taken there one day. Today it is extravagant decoration of usual university office. In the photo: Helsinki… last look at the city…

black, black and white

I was observing a woman during today’s meeting. She was wearing white shirt, black waistcoat with pearl bottoms, black skirt with plants motives in ecru color and a black pullover. In her ears she had silver earrings in modern style. I think she was doing during the meeting some notes not on a subject. I usually do the same during boring meetings. Her notes were not very important I think: she was earising them very quickly after making them.
Around me there are things I like so much in northern countries: modest and comfortable things. I like this stile so much. In the photo: bathroom in my hotel… black and white… black and white…

Filifionka and clouds

I have a cold so I was really afraid of this journey. Consequences of changing pressure in a plain are always terrible for my ears when I’m ill even a bit. Thanks God I’ve survived. I can hear almost normal now, so I can tell that I fill very well. A terrible headache is nothing in comparison to problems I was expecting today morning.
I’m in some hotel somewhere in Helsinki. It seems to be dark and magic place – this opinion comes form the first impression I have been arriving here. When my plane was landing I was observing a view form a window. There was a lot of small clouds above airport and it was raining. I saw the clouds and drops of rain in lights of the plane. The lights made them ominous and mysterious. It was like the world from the visions of Filifionka from Tove Janson books.
Unfortunately I don’t know how we call in English this female Troll. She was very lonely, she was always tiding everything up and she was afraid of everything. In her imagination the world was full of terrible beings. Each of them very dangerous for her.