Metaloplastyka wernakularna na Dolnym Śląsku. Wstęp do problematyki

Abstract

Vernacular Metalwork in Lower Silesia (Poland): An outline of the subject area

Steel stampings and wire were, for private individuals, the most readily available DIY materials in Poland in the 1960’s and 70’s, at a time when many other resources were lacking. Such materials were not purchased in markets, but “acquired” in various ways, in a kind of “recycling” of post-production waste, and were easy-to-handle for anyone who had welding equipment. Thus, a large quantity of simple metalwork was produced, such as benches, bicycle stands, window lattices and, above all, fencing. At times, more individualized objects were also made. The fences were not standardized, although they shared common principles of repetitive use and pattern composition, and contributed to a characteristic aesthetic mess in towns and villages, resulting in a certain “ugliness” noted especially by people coming to Poland from Western Europe. Today, these inventions of human resourcefulness and manifestations of people’s inherent aesthetic needs from the socialist era are disappearing. Before our eyes, they are gradually being displaced by mass-produced, standardized, uninteresting products available from any building materials store. This particular developmental history leads us look at these objects in a new light.