CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI
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      • Tank Caravans Paint Brush
      • Buy to Let
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      • Project outline
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      • Project Outline
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      • Project Outline
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      • Red Sports Car, East To West
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      • Matchbox
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    • Badgast Residency >
      • Short Essay
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      • Panorama Mesdag
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Coventry Concept

(film 1 min. 24 secs.) Experimenting with the poetry of Phillip Larkin ('Going Going ) and the fastest car in the world. 
Picture
PictureThe museums vending machine
​Coventry itself has an interesting relationship to public art. Destroyed during world war two, public art played an important role in the reconstruction process. Notably the Jacob Epstein's sculpture on the rebuilt Coventry cathedral" St Michael's victory over the devil"- was a high profile modernist work signifying a new age and a new approach.

I think there was a sense that people had high hopes for what public could achieve then. Its difficult to gauge the effect on quality of life public art has so whether any of these lofty ideals were achieved is open to opinion.

Predominately a manufacturing centre, the city lost out in the eighties with the introduction of Margaret Thatchers free market economy policy. It certainly isn't as prosperous as it used to be and although this isn't really anything to do with public art, poverty always gives the impression that at least 'something' in this society has failed. Consequently I feel that Coventry is a place where the 'function' of public art has a particular resonance.

Picture
​There is always an aspect to making art in a public space outside of the art gallery context that feels a bit paradoxical. If the work is too esoteric it runs the risk of not engaging with its audience but conversely if the work plays to the crowd it can sometimes be accused of being simplistic and even a bit patronising. A 'good' piece of contemporary art often stretch's and challenges its audience making them think and question the world they live in. I think this is key to making something timeless and more than mere novelty.

Like a lot of people, the first time I was exposed to the type of culture commonly referred to as 'high brow' was at school. We were taught that although it might not be entertaining it was 'good for us'. In English literature lessons at my comprehensive school we were made to read poetry with the objective of passing an exam at the end. However, in my subsequent profession as an artist I have often found myself reflecting on the philosophical questions posed by much of this literature. It has obviously stayed with me although I read it reluctantly at the time and even failed the exam.

My aim with this proposal is to bring the high brow culture of poetry into the accessible context of the public space of the transport museum. To do this I would make a parody of a vending machine to deliver the poems. The irreverent and contemporary method would transcend the formal context of literature whilst questioning our notions of value and worth.
Picture
​One poet that sticks in mind from my school experience was Phillip Larkin. Weirdly, a bit later in life, when I was an art student in Hull, I found out we had lived on the same block, his former residence being just round the corner. Many of his famous poems were written in my neighbourhood and I found myself identifying with the depressing tones of his work that reflected on the world around him. It may have even been this that influenced my early work. As a student I built a boat from driftwood found in the river Humber so that I could try and escape from Hull. This in turn led to an on going theme of transport based artwork and my current situation of writing a proposal for the Coventry transport museum. It felt personally significant for me therefore when I discovered the former poet laureate was originally born in Coventry.
Picture
​'Road transport' and 'Larkin's poetry' don't ordinarily equate to one another but I find that sometimes bringing together two disparate elements often create the most interesting and sometimes original artistic coupling. On Phillip Larkin's Wikipedia page I was surprised to find that someone had even seen fit to make a note of the first car he owned- a Coventry classic, the Rootes Group, 'Singer Gazelle' . This led me to find other automotive connections within his poetry that I could link to specific vehicles in the Coventry Transport Museum collection.
Picture
Photo: GnuDav
​Some of the connections are quite literal such as the poem 'Ambulances' that equates quite obviously with the Commer St' Johns ambulance. Also the poem 'Aubade' , that contemplates death, has a clear connection with the Daimler funeral hearse. In the poem 'Going Going' however, Larkin dwells on the changing urban landscape of a provincial city in post war Britain and the influence of the motor car. The link with the transport museum I found is a bit more subtle but I thought that this was best represented by the Standard Vanguard; a car intended to kick start the post war economy of Coventry. I have found others but I'm sure there are many more vehicle and Larkin poem pairings I have yet to find.

  • Home
  • in the art gallery
    • Transit Transition >
      • Train Wave
      • The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
      • Self Evaluation
      • something About Global Capitalism But Less Ernest
      • The Man From Human Resources Is Coming to See You
      • The Ofsted Inspection
      • The Risk Assessment
      • Personal development training day
      • My Matchbox Toy Lorry
      • The Zero Hours Contract
      • The Plinth
    • Remnants Of Utopia >
      • Austerity Miniature Mayday Parade
      • The Contract
      • Agitprop/anti-agitprop Train
      • Siberia
      • How We Won The War
      • Revolutionary Reminder
      • The Marketing Team
    • Antarctica >
      • Project Outline
      • Antarctica Essay
      • Reviews
      • Sledge
      • Toy Sledge
      • Airfix Antarctic Aeroplane Hoover
      • Eating Penguins
      • The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
      • Toy Snowmobile
      • Rat Box, Bird Island
      • Rejection Letters
      • The Last Roll Of Kodachrome In The World
      • John Deere Gator And Specimen
      • There Are No More Dogs In Antarctica
      • Furthest South- J C B
      • Captain Scotts Bookshelf
      • Antarctic Toy Portraits
    • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape >
      • Seascape Escape (No.1)
      • Landscape Escape (No.1)
      • Seascape Escape (No.2)
      • Timescape Escape
      • Landscape Escape (No.2) >
        • Sketches for Tank
      • Skyscape Escape
      • Essay/ Catalogue >
        • Introduction
        • Seascape Escape
        • Landscape Escape No. 1
        • Seascape Escape No.2
        • Landscape Escape No.2
        • Skyscape Escape
        • Timescape Escape
        • End-Piece
      • Reviews and Press
    • Offer Must End Soon >
      • Essay Jess Twyman
      • Reviews
      • Offer Must End Soon
      • Buy My Painting!
      • "Buy My Painting!" For the hard of hearing.
      • "Don't Make Me Take It All Back Home With Me!"
      • How We Won The War
      • "Stop me and buy one!"
      • 'The Cornfield'... free gift inside
      • "Catalogue!"
      • The Contemporary Art Scene
      • Camera Crash
      • "Untitled" hanging itself
      • Buy My Fucking Painting!
      • Absolut Ship !
      • Executive Toy!
      • Art Stunt Suicide Disaster
      • Roll up, Roll up. Get your Art here!
    • Big Country >
      • Big Country
      • The box you stick your head into
      • Europa, Hoek van Holland to Vladivostok
      • Caravans
      • magazine article
    • All at Sea
    • & Model >
      • Reviews
    • Give Me The Money
    • Music and domestic appliances >
      • Sketch for aeroplane
      • The Plinth
      • Cold War Monument
      • Wagon Wheels
      • Vacuum Cleaner Circle
    • ...on the wall...in boxes >
      • My Shitty Studio No.2
      • Sketch for aeroplane No.6
      • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape, Fire Escape
      • My horrible studio No.1
      • Untitled 240 Volts
      • On the way to the beach party
      • Toy Me No.2
      • It's for you
    • Sweet Jars, glass cases on books >
      • Thatcher
      • The council estate is coming
      • Attack drone and books
      • Muck Spreader
      • Trojan Horse
      • Security Camera
      • Move
      • Epsom Printer, Tank, God
      • Contemporary art- its the law!
      • Tank Caravans Paint Brush
      • Buy to Let
      • Section 21
  • On The Stage
    • All Roads Lead To Rome >
      • Project outline
      • reviews
    • Antarctica >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
    • Poland 3 Iran 2 >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
    • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • tours and extra stuff
    • How NOT to make a living as an Artist
    • Toy Stories
  • Outside the art gallery
    • Auspicious Phoenix Recycling Palace
    • Covid lockdown with Boris >
      • Boris zip wire
      • Covidtrix
      • what is the truth but a lie agreed upon
    • Goat Train
    • washed up Car - go >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • 'EK52 UDP'
      • 'VK02 GFK'
      • 'Y194 LPP'
      • Washed Up Car-go (Hastings)
      • Washed Up Car- go (Brighton)
    • Vanishing Point >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • Red Sports Car, East To West
      • Studebaker Camera Car, Going To The Beach
      • Kite And Candy, Buick
      • Kennedy Lincoln Continental
      • Ambulance Emergency
      • Pink Mustang, at the Golden Gate Bridge
      • Matchbox
      • Instant Gratification
    • Badgast Residency >
      • Short Essay
      • De Wrede Zee
      • Fish
      • Chips
      • Windmill
      • Panorama Mesdag
    • Selfie Slot Car Racing >
      • Project Outline
      • Film by Andy Wiltshire
      • Librarian Pit Crew
      • Experiments with sound
      • Selfie Slot Car Racing at Firstsite Gallery
      • Flitwick Library
    • Coventry Transport Museum Residency >
      • Coventry Concept
      • Poetry Vending Machine
    • Cheap Cheap >
      • Review
    • A Portrait of Casper DeBoer
    • Cranes
    • Hessle Road Residency >
      • Hessle Road (continued)
    • Reisbureau Mareado >
      • Mareado (Continued)
      • City magazine review
    • Windmills >
      • Aerial, wind, sun and radio
      • Guitar Played by the Wind >
        • Winners and Losers
      • Self Portrait
      • Jesus punches banker
    • Performance Sculptures >
      • The groundsman
      • All seeing bicycle lamp
      • Pasta 4 one
      • Revolutionary Reminder
  • publications
    • Solo projects >
      • Escape >
        • Read an Extract
      • Antarctica
      • Offer Must End Soon
      • Tangents
      • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape
      • Aerial, wind, sun and radio
    • Group Projects >
      • oceans
      • Talk to me
      • & Model
      • Middlesbrough Art Weekender
      • Translating the Street
      • 1st Sino/british Cont. Art, Yentai
      • Performance, Transport And Mobility
      • Inbetween PS1, New York and Shanghai
      • Odd Coupling
      • Landscapes of Exploration
      • Flip Shift Show Switch
      • Baudrillard Now
      • The Juddykes
      • Dr Roberts Magic Bus
      • Continental Breakfast
      • Lat (living Apart Together)
      • North. Amsterdam 2004
      • Westwijk, Vlaardingen, De Strip
      • Da Da Da Strategies Against Marketecture
      • Reisburo Mareado (The Travel Brochure)
      • Catalogus Mareado
      • Kunst Over De Grens
      • This Flat Earth
      • The Uses of an Artist
      • Kettles Yard Open 97
      • Royal College Of Art Centenary Year
      • Millennium Encyclopedia
    • Press
  • About / contact
    • Biog
    • CV >
      • Solo Exhibitions
      • Live Art
      • Residencies / Commissions
      • Group Exhibitions
      • Education
      • Career History
      • Media Coverage
    • Contact
    • are you on the right website?