Nieznajomi to groźba... Czyżby rzeczywiście? [przeł. Radosław F. Muniak]
Strangers are Dangers... Are They? [trans. Radosław F. Muniak]

Summary/Abstract: A commentary originally published in a catalogue accompanying the most recent installation by Mirosław Bałka at the Tate Modern, titled How It Is. Bałka’s work is situated in the context of modern town-planning sciences; considered is the role of fear of unknown people/strangers as a phenomenon defining post-modern urban life. Enclosed settlements are focused on as an ambiguous attempt at coping with such fear, as are social consequences of people getting separated from one another in urban areas. According to Bauman, “strangers also provide a convenient – indeed a handy one – vent for our inborn fear against the unknown, uncertain and unforeseeable. Having expelled ‘unknown people’ from our houses and streets, we are left with a horrifying spirit of uncertainty, even if just for a little while; we subject it to exorcism: a terrifying effigy of uncertainty is then rendered subject to symbolic combustion”. In the essayist’s opinion, Bałka’s work helps get rid of this fear through reminding urban dwellers how important community is in a threat situation, as is the other human being and perception of the stranger as a friend rather than enemy.

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