What is it all about?
Cosmodernism is my personal intermedia art project that came to life in 2019 in Katowice, Poland. It incorporates both broadly defined abstract video art and photography, as well as original sound design and experimental and performative activities. The main idea of the project is to search for the personal abstract expression by exploring micro and macro observation in combination with specially composed soundscapes of my own production. As the building blocks of my films I often use various kinds of chemicals, dyes, objects, interesting reactions, both from the world of chemistry and physics.
For the creation and observation of my compositions, I use a microscope and other precision optics in combination with a camera, which I use to capture images in various kinds of original micro film sets, based on self-made mechanisms and lighting systems. I try to continuously search for methods of observation that are new to me and that will give me wider capabilities to enjoy and capture the world at the microscale and beyond.
Since I don't have any scientific background, my actions are based mainly on intuition, empirical experience and the trial-and-error method - which I see as an essential part of my project. Although many of the shots you see in my portfolio appear to be computer-generated, they were not created using CGI and digital techniques. These are all real objects in an unreal perspective. Science fiction but without the fiction.
Microchemical retrofuturism.
Genesis
The project originated as a happy consequence of receiving a birthday gift from my friends, which was my first microscope. Over the course of the first few weeks, the world of microphotography, recorded at first with a cell phone applied to a microscope eyepiece, absorbed me so much that I wanted to explore and expand my knowledge of its secrets so much further. This set a completely new and unexpected course of events which was the creation of this project.
The name Cosmodernism crystallized after a few months, which gave this initiative a certain identity and accurately defined my inspiration behind it, which is widely understood cosmic phenomena - from atoms to galaxies - scaled in every direction. I think my work was very much influenced by all kinds of abstract art, sci-fi creations and a general admiration for the complexity of the world around us and the processes that drive it. Some time after the formation of the project, a natural consequence of the production of video materials turned out to be the need to record my own soundtrack for the created films. This began, then completely new in my life, the adventure of learning the secrets of sound. Exploring creation and experimentation in the sonic spectrum became an integral part of the project and has been ever since.
About the author
My name is Kamil Czapiga, I was born in 1991 in Katowice, Poland, where I still live and create. My creative adventure began in my adolescence, when my parents sent me to a local art school, even though I didn't think it was the best idea at that time. A few years later, already without much resistance, I continued my art education at the Academy of Fine Arts in my city, where I studied Graphic Design, and received my bachelor's degree from the illustration class in 2012. During my studies, I started my career as an illustrator and tattoo artist. For the next 11 years, I ran my private tattoo studio, where I performed my original designs for clients from both Poland and abroad. In April 2023, due to the unexpected acceleration of the development of my side microscope project, I made the decision to completely end my career in the tattoo industry and focus exclusively on the Cosmodernism project, which is currently my main work platform and creative direction.
Collaboration
In addition to my strictly authorial work, the project is also based on various collaborations with other artists, institutions and brands. If you are interested in such cooperation or licensing of my works, I invite you to contact me by email, which you can find below and in the contact section.
