Polish Media Art in an Expanded Field

From an Eastern nation on the global periphery to a European neoliberal democracy enmeshed in transnational networks, Poland has experienced a dramatic transformation in the last century. Polish Media Art in an Expanded Field uses the lens—and mirror—of media art to think through the politics of a postsocialist “New Europe,” where artists are negotiating the tension between global cosmopolitanism and national self-enfranchisement. Situating Polish media art practices in the context of Poland’s aesthetic traditions and political history, Aleksandra Kaminska provides an important contribution to site-specific histories of media art. Polish Media Art demonstrates how artists are using and reflecting upon technology as a way of entering into larger civic conversations around the politics of identity, place, citizenship, memory, and heritage. Building on close readings of artworks that serve as case studies, as well as interviews with leading artists, scholars, and curators, this is the first full-length study of Polish media art.