Introduction

This chapter aims to present an exhaustive and detailed description of various relationships between the representatives of avant-garde circles from Poland and the Low Countries, which gathers and substantially complements the findings and remarks found. Richard Kostelanetz determined three discriminatory criteria of the avant-garde which will also be of use in this study, i.e. the transcending of existing aesthetic conventions, lack of comprehension from the contemporary audience and pioneering nature functioning as source of inspiration for future generations. Tensions between individual agencies and structural constraints form quite important factors in the processes of cultural mobility. Mark Granovetter related the nature and strength of interpersonal interactions to such phenomena as diffusion, social mobility and cohesion—all crucial features of the avant-garde network. The notion of a network with relation to the avant-garde was introduced by Hubert van den Berg, who had based his model partially on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's concept of the "rhizome".