In May 2024 we invited Miroslaw Balka to the Roberts Institute of Art Residency.
Miroslaw spent his time in residence embarking on a new project that responds to the landscape surrounding the residency.
Miroslaw Balka
May 2024
Miroslaw is an artist who works across sculpture, performance, experimental video and drawing. Regularly using industrial materials like steel, concrete and wood — often sourced locally to his studio and childhood home in Otwock, Poland — his work explores memory, identity and human experience, drawing inspiration from both his personal history and Europe’s tumultuous past.
Investigating the relationship between personal trauma and established historical narratives, Miroslaw uses his work to address domestic memory and national tragedy. Miroslaw held his first major UK solo show at Dundee Contemporary Arts in 2002, and this was his first time back in Scotland since.
While in residence, Miroslaw was interested in exploring the Scottish landscapes surrounding the residency. Given its proximity to the Birnam Oak — a relic of the Birnam Wood from William Shakespeare's Macbeth — he wanted to consider how the landscape and trees play a role in Shakespeare’s work.
Contrary to the dark, misty atmospheres from the film adaptations he had researched before arriving in Scotland, by the likes of Orson Welles and Roman Polanski, Miroslaw was met with bright sun and blue skies. This unexpected scenery led Miroslaw to respond differently to the landscape, focusing his attention on the trees in the castle grounds and reflecting on how he could complement Shakespeare’s tragic play with an exploration of interdependence and light.
Since the 1990s, Miroslaw has used measurements in his titles, referencing both his body (see 250 x 700 x 455, Ø 41 x 41/Zoo/T (2007/08) from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection) and the landscape, such as the height above sea level for site-specific installations.
For the past two centuries, the inhabitants of Cortachy Castle, the site of the residency, have planted trees in honour of named individuals surrounding the property. With his interest in measurements and connections between nature and culture, Miroslaw meticulously recorded the dimensions of each tree. He later translated these measurements into a series of intricate, overlapping circles on a large piece of paper using gold markers, on a one-to-one scale.
The resulting work resembles a cloud-like formation of interlocking shapes, highlighting the interconnectedness of these memorial trees, while drawing a parallel to the unity and collective force of the Birnam Wood in Macbeth.
Towards the end of his residency, Miroslaw was joined by his old friend and Director Emerita of Tate Modern, Frances Morris. Together they discussed the inspiration and processes behind Miroslaw’s work while in residence. You can watch the filmed conversation above.
Miroslaw Balka, The Rings of the Sun, 2024
