“Two Men with the Mouth”

Roman Polanski’s film study of 1958 entitled Two Men with a Wardrobe, read as a metamorphosis of otherness and alienation, inspired the creation of the short film Two Men with the Mouth. Nearly 60 years after the release of Polanski, again two men with a strange object (in this case, a large mouth) have emerged from the sea, traversing the small coastal town of Ustka. Everywhere they meet with interest and sympathy from accidentally passing people, without a hint of aggression. The film was made, however, as a response to aggression or hate speech in our new virtual reality. Last year, the Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Słupsk started together with Maurycy Gomulicki to work on the installation entitled The Mouth, a giant size object in the shape of the mouth, which was to be placed at the entrance to the port. This did not happen, however, because in result of the so-called public consultation, organized and placed on the net by the city council of Ustka, the project was rejected as the hated one. With the film Two Men with a Mouth the Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Słupsk is launching a campaign against hate speech, entitled “No Hate City”, and encourages all the cultural institutions to join to the action.
The film is also a harbinger of the project The Mouth of Słupsk by the Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Edyta Wolska
Director Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Słupsk