ZAMKNIĘTE PRZESTRZENIE W FILMACH KRÓTKOMETRAŻOWYCH JANA ŠVANKMAJERA – DZIEDZICTWO I KONWERSJA PREINDUSTRIALNEJ WYOBRAŹNI

The proposed view on the subject of closed spaces in short lms of the Czech artist Jan Švankmajer is a continu- ation of a research of the text’s author on various aspects of creative output of this one of the most outstanding surrealist lmmaker living today. Švankmajer, a polemical continuator of Giuseppe Arcimboldi’s pictorial works, is carrying out a peculiar conversion of the ideas, which the Italian painter followed in accordance tothe spirit of his era, both in relation to the concept of a dialogue and in the context of closed spaces. Situat- ing the plot of many of Švankmajer’s early lms in closed places constitutes an important component of the portrayal of human condition as seen by the artist: a man subjected to mechanisms of destruction and living in disharmony and a faulty creature who has lost the capability to remain in natural relation both with his closest environment and the whole world.