Thirty Degrees

Desperate for air in a taxi for two, screeching windows roll down. Whipping in and out with violent animation, stale summer wind tugs and twists strands of hair in a desperate frenzy. Muscles shiver and bones shudder as bodies dip into shadows before being snatched back to the arid city landscape. Passengers and pedestrians lock eyes at 20 miles per hour; a mutual indifference exchanged. Engines groan in 30-degree heat, taking turn after turn to arrive at another temporary destination. Dry air scratches throats and sweat-stained shirts stick ruthlessly to skin while waiting outside a friend’s front door. It’s a city where nobody’s home until four. The cruel breeze rattles through the streets, disturbing dried leaves and nudging broken twigs while offering no reprieve from the relentless sun. Shoulders cave in, bodies beg for the mercy of shade while cold stone tiles mimic the cool side of a pillow on a midsummer’s night.

Inside, stone heads perch upon cabinets and marble torsos line the floors. Carved body parts point towards a forgotten library tucked away at the end of the hall. Dust coats every surface, calling life to disrupt it as knowledge stows away bound between covers. Staś Zienkiewicz at Uncover Models explores the undisturbed treasury of books and artefacts, drinking in information as Aldona Karczmarczyk photographs him basking in the respite from the savage sun.

Staś and Aldona hide out in the library until dusk falls on the city and the night crawls with life. Marcin Brylski dresses Staś in lightweight clothing and layers to the nines. Floodlights illuminate a garden museum as Staś leaps from fear to phobia in the shifting moonlight. Sweat rolls down spines whilst music rises from the city, with each song getting louder than the one before. Billowing grey smoke eclipses blinking stars as the sharp, piquant aroma of a barbeque fans out across the neighbourhood. When the night settles, desk fans whir in harmony around town to form the dull humming of sweltering, sleepless nights. When strangers twist and turn in damp sheets, engulfed by the sticky heat, the team begins their night-time crusade.