Galeria Komputer is an independent curatorial project by the artists Łukasz Radziszewski and Szymon Kaniewski.
The concept was based on elements of the narration of video games – particularly G.E.C.K. (from the Polish for Marvellous Land Ecosystem Generator), a fictitious miracle of technology, an artefact from the legendary game Fallout 2. G.E.C.K. was a mobile tool recreating ecosystems in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Alongside G.E.C.K., another inspiration was the 1957 Stanisław Lem story “Przyjaciel” (The Friend). The narration presents the legend of a supercomputer, hidden in a cellar on plac Wilsona in Warsaw, which is attempting to take over the universe.
Both imaginings affected the design of a universal, useful device for presenting art. The symbol and the “gallery” itself is Radziszewski’s first computer from 1999. In its current form, it’s found in a special ATX case – a white box made up of used exhibition systems from institutions of the Warsaw art world: Zachęta, the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Museum of Modern Art.