Powiernicy, kolekcjonerzy, (re)konstruktorzy : współcześni artyści wobec rzeczy znalezionych

The term ‘found object’ refers to an existing object or artifact that contemporary artists use in undertaking memory-related themes in their art. Originally, such objects would not have fit in the category of art, although for their finders they might have had value (for instance, for aesthetic or nostalgic reasons, or due to the object’s originality). By means of the found object an artist comments on contemporary culture, constructing an artistic narration that concerns the past and reveals the memories or identities connected with places and people (for instance, site-specific art or community art). Through art collecting, the revelation or discovery of things from the past, artists become custodians of memory and engage in its reconstruction; this may involve either the ‘small’ personal memory or the collective memory, for instance, one based on the history of a location. In the artistic practices analyzed in the article, things also become a means to influence the course of our activities, by evoking memories and the emotions connected with them, awakening the senses and affecting the course of interhuman relations.