@thepalace.collective

A month after returning from an artist’s residency at Gorzanów Castle, I am beginning to assemble photographs of the 250 souls who freely roamed there over two weeks in September. A shimmering cornucopia of creativity within the 1573 walls. Some of those walls lay in spectacular ruin, but most were quite solid, although every so often the sound of crumbling stone would cause me to look up and notice a trail of dust making its way down to a surface below.

I was distracted by 16th century wall paintings of angels and assemblages of objects left lying around by the residents, and often shied away from official happenings.

In our shared quarters, huge potato omelettes with sausage were fried up in the mornings on stoves attached to butane cylinders, with the barest of utensils. A brown dog, a mouse and an impressive cat came to live with us. The cat tore the head off a tiny rabbit and devoured it proudly at the start of the last weekend beneath a tree outside our door.

My experience frequently shifted between states of wonder, overwhelm and exhaustion, brought on by overloads of sublime beauty, social hyperactivity, senseless bedtime hours and minimal protein intake. Being led astray has its consequences at 32. When I needed some quiet, my camera acted as a small, purposeful shield between me and forces which could combine to initiate a thrilling adventure through the grounds at any hour of day or night.

Although connection to ancient memory was palpable on site, further research into the castle’s history has only been surface level so far. The actor and poet Karl von Holtei (1798-1800) who spent 30 years residing in the palace, wrote a paragraph which really resonates:

(the rooms) in which I dwelt, made love, watched people die, cohabited with the survivors, poetized, quarrelled with the Count, written plays, learned roles, managed the theatre, made plans for the future, and God knows what else?

Below is a selection of approximately 50 favourite pictures taken between late August and early September in lower Silesia.

To find out more about the palace, visit:

https://www.thepalacecollective.org/

More Arts Documentation on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lerouxdocu/

This was my first blog post! More to come, as Autumn continues…