Ruń
2024
Sculpture, site-specific.
~340x100x10 cm, concrete, fiber optics.
Rising three metres high in the village of Mochnate on the Polish-Belarusian border, the sculpture “Ruń” is a concrete installation that embodies the word “ruń” (from Belarusian: young grass) — fresh shoots pushing through new soil. The sculpture is placed in Polish Podlasie, a region where histories and traditions intertwine and no single narrative dominates. Ruń acts as a “non-monument”, providing a possibility for commemoration beyond the control of power; it serves as a marker of a space where official memory is absent or deliberately left undefined. It gives local stories and histories, overlooked by the state narrative, a place to exist as an act of personal commemoration and belonging, and thereby challenges the view that only officially recognised histories deserve a place in collective history.
The original sculpture is infused with fibre optic strands and becomes shiny and translucent in sunlight, at dawn and at sunset, so that it subtly responds to its surroundings. In this way, the impenetrable concrete structure becomes lighter, transparent and adapts to its surroundings.
The original sculpture is infused with fibre optic strands and becomes shiny and translucent in sunlight, at dawn and at sunset, so that it subtly responds to its surroundings. In this way, the impenetrable concrete structure becomes lighter, transparent and adapts to its surroundings.
