Samson and Delilah by Rubens is one of my favourite pieces in the National Gallery. I could stare at it and copy it for hours admiring the soft brushwork. When I heard Rubens was being shown in Wrocław, naturally, I had to go.

Although my favourite painting wasn't there, I truly discovered Rubens from a different angle thanks to the exhibition. The signature oil on canvas brushwork and storytelling was still present (see below: "The Death of Seneca").

However, a range of other mediums was present, for example prints (see below:).

Or tapestries such as "The Death of Roman Consul Decius Mus", a tapestry by the Workshop of Frans van der Hecke, after cartons designed by Peter Paul Rubens in 1616-1618.

The exhibition also provided a lot of information on Rubens' life, work and biography.

I had a chance to exhibit alongside Viola Tycz at the Wrocław Art Fair and was very intrigued by the email inviting me to her shamanic open evening titled “ORGANIX 28”.

The invitation promised a cybernetic ritual along with two other artists Michał Litwiniec  (introduced as priest of the sounds for the ritual) and TOON (introduced as a witcher and interpreter of symbols). I was determined to witness the event.

The ritual didn’t disappoint. I was struck by the outright praying to machines and this reminded me of the e/acc movement, a lot of propellers wish to see a machine god. There was an interesting element of praying to the network and algorithms themselves.

​Some of the prayer methods reminded me of Catholic mass. The artist rightly pointed out that many elements of mass were borrowed from pagans.

The painting being previewed from the series had many layers of meaning as well as execution. A bottom coating of computer hard drives slowly revealed patterns and from the right angle a woman’s face.

​Technology is at its most lethal when ignored and I was certainly glad to see artists embracing it and letting it be understood on subconscious and spiritual levels.