Stanisław Lem
Kraków Murals
Mural, Podgórze district. Text on the wall: "Na koniec ludzie skarleją do wymiaru bezmózgich sług żelaznych geniuszy i, być może, poczną oddawać im cześć boską... Stanisław Lem". A mural is a large painting made directly on the wall of a building.
History
The mural dedicated to Stanisław Lem, the writer and futurologist who was connected with Kraków for many years, was created in Podgórze as part of the literary project "Pomyśl: Literatura!" (Think: Literature!). It was unveiled on 22 October 2012, at the start of the Conrad Festival. The idea came from the ZNACZY SIĘ New Art Foundation and the Kraków Festival Office. The design was made by the Kraków artist Filip Kuźniarz, a graphic arts graduate of the city's Academy of Fine Arts, inspired by Lem's work. The writer's words run above a striding robot, and a group of muralists worked with him on the painting, including Weronika Kasprzyk, Artur Wabik and Aleksandra Toborowicz.
Did you know?
The inscription on the wall comes from Lem's "Dialogi" (Dialogues) of 1957. In it the author predicts that more and more matters will be overseen by machines, and that people will eventually become mindless servants of iron geniuses and may even start worshipping them like gods.