Patryk Wilk | Nordic Culture Point (iceland)

Patryk Wilk (b. 1995, Poland) is a visual artist and researcher based in Reykjavík, Iceland. He studied at the Academy of Art in Szczecin (BA) and the Iceland University of the Arts (MFA).

Wilk constructs perceptual stress tests – installations, video works and participatory situations that bring the viewer to a psychological threshold, where the body registers what the mind has not yet processed.

His work has been shown at The Living Art Museum (Nýlistasafnið), Reykjavík; CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea; the National Museum in Szczecin; Labirynt Gallery, Lublin; Władysław Hasior Gallery (Tatra Museum), Zakopane; the Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Maryland, USA; and Survival Art Review, Wrocław.

He has presented papers at the International Conference on the Image (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), the Alchemy Conference of the London Arts-Based Research Centre (University of Oxford), the Unbuilt Architecture Conference (Cardiff University), the International Symposium for Visual Culture (Montgomery College, USA) and the International Scientific Conference on Human Rights at the Polish Parliament (Sejm).

He is chair of the Iceland University of the Arts Alumni Association and founder of The Light of Art Foundation.

Website: https://patrykwilk.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION — NARVA SHAMPOO™

What would the perfect shampoo be like?

NARVA SHAMPOO™ is a participatory artistic project that invites the residents of Narva to collectively imagine and create their city’s own shampoo.

It begins with a simple and slightly absurd question. Posters placed around Narva will invite residents to take part in an anonymous questionnaire through QR codes. Participants will be asked to imagine their ideal shampoo: its scent, colour, consistency and effects. Should it smell like home? Like the river? Should it make you happier?

The collected answers will become the recipe for NARVA SHAMPOO™, a small series of real bottles whose smell, colour and label claims come directly from the residents.

The project also plays with the visual language of cosmetics advertising: exaggerated promises, playful branding and humorous BEFORE/AFTER images. The final presentation at NART will bring together the bottles, the advertising campaign, the survey results, photographs and a short film.

Rather than imposing an artist’s vision, NARVA SHAMPOO™ asks what happens when a city is invited to imagine something together.
The result is a shared portrait of Narva through the sense of smell.