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The categories of abchemia distinguish different ways in which the material record is organised, along with their corresponding symbolic meanings. This classification has emerged from artistic practice and includes only distinctions borne out by works that have actually been created.
Each abchemia is a material record of the unique course of chemical reactions. Even recreating the conditions of the process cannot guarantee that an identical configuration will emerge.
THE PREMIERE OF ABCHEMIA
8 AUGUST 2026 / 6:00–9:00 PM
EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY
MARCIN BER-KRUPKA
Sielecki Palace
Konfederacja Lewiatan Headquarters
ul. Zbyszka Cybulskiego 5
00-727 Warsaw, Poland
Marcin Ber-Krupka
(born 1991) — visual artist.
Creator of Abchemism and author of the RIFSTANGI STATION project — the first Polish art installation created just south of the Arctic Circle, at the northernmost tip of mainland Iceland (66°32′ N).
He works across painting, sculpture and performance art, developing his artistic practice between Warsaw and Reykjavík.
ABCHEMISM
Abchemism is an original artistic direction developed by Marcin Ber-Krupka, rooted in reflection on the limits of human agency and the reconstructive nature of memory, in which the image of a past event changes over time.
The artist deliberately accepts uncertainty about the outcome as a condition of the work's creation. He initiates actual chemical reactions on the surface of a sheet of metal. The composition thus emerges from the interplay between his intention and the transformations of matter that unfold on their own.
A new order emerges from the disruption of the existing one, and ABCHEMIA becomes both a material record of this transformation and a carrier of its memory.
ABCHEMIA
Etymology — chemical abstraction.
An original art object by Marcin Ber-Krupka, in which the material record and form emerge through actual chemical transformations taking place on the surface of metal, without the use of paint.
Depending on its category, an abchemia may be flat or have a relief surface. The artist deliberately shapes the composition, initiates chemical reactions and identifies the appropriate moment to stabilise the work in the state it has reached.
MANIFESTO OF ABCHEMISM
The Manifesto of Abchemism establishes the principles and defines the concepts of this original artistic direction. It elaborates on its philosophical foundations and sets out the roles of the artist, matter, chance and time in the creation of abchemias.
AUTHORSHIP IN ABCHEMISM
Abchemism redefines authorship, shifting it from the direct shaping of form towards establishing conditions and making decisions at critical junctures. The artist sets out his compositional intention, selects and arranges the media, and initiates chemical reactions, but does not determine every feature of the work through his own gestures. The resulting record is therefore the product of both these actions and transformations of matter that unfold on their own. Matter ceases to be merely a material for the artist to shape and becomes an active force in the formation of the work.
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CONTACT
mberkrupka@gmail.com