Reverse logistics are defined as the "process of planning, implementing and controlling an effective and economically viable transfer of raw materials and manufactured goods from the point of consumption to the point of origin in the aim of recouping their value". Such activities have long been a part of Iza Tarasewicz's artistic practice. Born in 1981, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, the artist consistently makes use of raw materials (clay, gypsum, cement, salt, gold, rusted steel, glass, asphalt, animal fat, skin, fur, innards, plasticine, vegetable fibers, pollen and ash; for a recent exhibition in Antwerp she cultivated a fungus lab), merging them with one another to find new uses. Her projects bring together the object, diagram, sketch and performance.
The works shown at BWA Warszawa revolve around a theme explored across several earlier exhibitions: "The Strange Attractors" at the Polish Cultural Institute in Berlin, "Collaborating Objects Radiating Environments" at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, "By The Apparent Impossibility Of Arranging Signs" at the Arsenał Gallery in Białymstok and "The Means, The Milieu" at Objectif Exhibitions in Antwerp. "Reverse Logistics" also serves as an example of how elements can be recycled. "I adopt components that are re-usable", says Tarasewicz. "My works are characterized by a maximum exploitation of the material with a consideration for a minimal processing (simple methods of transformation, minimal intervention)". She uses the same foundations, containers, hangers, fixtures, shelves, furniture again and again. She "re-digests" her materials, while her sculptures are tools for "transporting energy and information". She is open about sharing the very process of creating works of art, publishing documentation of this process on her website.
"Reverse Logistics" is made up of three main works, which form the frame and supports for smaller sculptures. The first composition is a tangle of hemp fiber ropes and rubber hung between two metal frame-trestles that had been installed beneath the ceiling as part of an earlier show. The next is "SKU", an abstract three-dimensional code, a functional medium for information and identity made of a fine plant-derived "canvas" cut into strips of different widths. The nature of this work is much like the decorative panels on residential doors. The last piece is a latticework construction out of metal covered in plant fibers, meant to support other, earlier objects and sculptures by the artist, created during Tarasewicz's residencies in Georgia and Berlin, and those prepared for the Objectif Exhibitions in Antwerp.
Anyone who follows the current art scene may observe a growing profusion of artworks. Fully aware of this tendency, Tarasewicz has aimed to reduce the use of materials and - in effect - a reduction in the number of works. This decision, astonishing for an artist, has several reasons behind it. From the prosaic - the need to limit the need for storage space - to the conscientious - an ecological drive towards minimizing waste. Tarasewicz applies the practice of minimal losses and maximum utilization and re-utilization. These aspects are tied not only the physical reality of her works, but also to the conceptual level. Tarasewicz propagates the idea of recycling that which is in the past.

Courtesy of BWA Warszawa

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