1,2,3… Avant-Gardes is dedicated to the ongoing history of the experiment in film and art. This book describes and analyses the works of filmmakers and artists, defining two decades of experiments in Polish avant-garde film, and juxtaposes their work with contributions by international artists, who started to work during the last fifteen years. The outstanding history of Polish experimental film, represented by the work of Bogdan Dziworski, Paweł Kwiek, Natalia LL, Józef Robakowski, Stefan and Franciszka Themerson, and many others, is presented in an archive containing descriptions of more than 30 films of the Polish avant-garde between 1920–1970 and organized around six themes: Analytical Strategies, Political Film (Soc Art), Sound and Image, Imagination, Games and Participation, and Consumption.

Artist pages by Paweł Althamer and Artur Żmijewski, Bernadette Corporation, Matthew Buckingham, Judith Hopf and Katrin Pesch, Igor Krenz, Jonathan Monk, Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, and Wilhelm Sasnal complete this compendium as a contribution toward an extended examination of the history and practice of experimental filmmaking and art.

Artists: Akademia Ruchu, Antosz & Andzia, Paweł Althamer/Artur Żmijewski, Piotr Andrejew, Bernadette Corporation, Kazimierz Bendkowski, Matthew Buckingham, Bogdan Dziworski, Marcin Giżycki, Janusz Haka, Oskar Hansen, Judith Hopf / Katrin Pesch, Tadeusz Junak, Jacques de Koning, Igor Krenz, Grzegorz Królikiewicz, Zofia Kulik, Paweł Kwiek, Przemysław Kwiek, Natalia LL, Jolanta Marcolla , Jonathan Monk, Ewa Partum, Andrzej Pawłowski, Zygmunt Piotrowski, Jeroen deRijke/Willem de Rooij, Józef Robakowski, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Zygmunt Rytka, Wilhelm Sasnal, Jadwiga Singer, Zdzisław Sosnowski, Mieczysław Szczuka, Michał Tarkowski, Stefan & Franciszka Themerson, Teresa Tyszkiewicz, Ryszard Waśko, Jan S. Wojciechowski, Krzysztof Zarębski, Florian Zeyfang