Artist Statement

Mark Krawczuk creates events and installations that dismantle the distinction between spectator and spectacle in order to immerse participants in a culture of their own creation.

His practice is organized chaos. He produces interactive installations and performances that convey the emotional reality of a communal, illicit activity in a way that binds the audience and the event together. Shared discovery, tension, and spontaneous action contribute to the development of social spaces that foster inclusion and help participants enter alternative cognitive and emotional frameworks of social interaction.

By exploring tropes from the service economy, heist films, and the burlesque, Krawczuk’s work activates layers of contrapuntal meaning. Themes such as collaboration versus competition, trust versus risk, respect and hospitality, and cultivation versus control emerge from a meticulous scaffolding of cascading events.

The heart of this practice is the act of planning, a manifestation of “possibility space” which provides a blueprint for performative recreation. As the architect of these experiences, Krawczuk designs and builds conceptual frameworks and spaces that foster creativity. Participant artists are invited to inhabit these creative spaces, test their boundaries, and incubate new ideas, expressions, and articulations. This formal, structural approach is both memetic and participatory, a conscious nod towards open source movements and Krawczuk’s other life as a Producer/Project Manager for major technology firms and communications agencies.

Better planning means better risks. When a fundamental organizational structure is secure, it provides pockets of flexibility within the overall infrastructure. This offers opportunities for spontaneity, creativity, and reinterpretation within the overall framework of the plan. What’s more, this fluid organizational style allows Krawczuk to explore resonant themes with events as diverse as a cross-country series of festivals, an accessible guerilla installation, or an intimate afternoon of community building.

 Note: “Krawczuk” is pronounced like “crowd” with out a “d” and “chuck” as in throwing a ball = crow(d) chuck.