Manifestation description:

The official end of the Plein Air is approaching. The representatives of the political and administrative authorities from Miastko and Słupsk arrived. The common room of the camping holiday center. In the middle of the floor, along the oblong, barrack-like room, lies a strip of gray fabric about 4-5 meters long and 60 cm wide. On the edge of the fabric, along its entire length, is written in bold letters: POLITICAL ALTAR. In the middle, against the wall of the barrack, opposite the entrance, stands a table. On it there are: a jug of water, a few glasses and a folded piece of gray fabric about 2 meters long. There are some chairs, but most of the audience, consisting of the participants of the open-air festival and guests who came to the closing ceremony, is standing. The room is fully crowded. Just before the action, the artist placed a white blank sheet of paper in the middle of the fabric spread on the floor, and next to it he put a pile of dry wood collected in the forest. Action. The artist enters the room. He is naked. He stands in front of the audience and declares that what he is about to do will be neither a happening nor a performance, but an attempt to join the dialogue that is shaking the reality of Poland, following the strikes on the Polish Coast and the expansion of Solidarity. With a brush he applies white paint to his knees and immediately falls on them. He kneels on the canvas and paints the letter O on his chest. He stands up, takes a step forward and applies the white paint to his knees again. He falls down and paints the letter F on his torso. He repeats these actions until the word OFIARA (Sacrifice) appears on his body. It happens almost in the middle of the fabric. The artist steps off the fabric, leaving a tract of white knee marks imprinted on it. He now kneels beside the fabric on the floor, crumples up a white blank sheet of paper and covers the crumpled paper with the wood. He asks for matches and lights a fire in the middle of the fabric strip.

The fire gets bigger and bigger. The artist stands up and paints a large red letter V on his body, crossing out the white lettering of OFIARA (Sacrifice) with it. He steps back onto the fabric, having the burning fire behind his back and, applying red paint to his feet, continues walking, no longer on his knees. Leaving red footprints, he reaches the end of the fabric strip, steps off it and walks over to the table. He takes the gray cloth lying there and puts it on as there is a slit cut in the middle. He decorates this garment by painting a flowering plant on its front with blue paint. He then takes a jug, pours water into glasses and treats those willing to drink it. After a while, he walks over to the fire and pours a thin stream of water over the fabric. The flame dies out, the embers continue to consume the fabric, but the burning process is made slower. The artist now turns to the audience and asks whether they wish the rest of the wood to be added to the fire or whether they do not wish it. Those present want the fire to continue burning and the rest of the wood enhances the spectacularly dimming flames. After a while, the wood burns out completely. The artist pours the rest of the water over the fire. A long piece of fabric is lifted from the floor with the help of the organizers and hung on the wall. The artist takes off his “garment”, places it on the table and leaves. All that becomes part of the post plein-air exhibition.

„Katalog twórczości Jerzego Beresia, 1954-1994 – część II: Manifestacje”, opr, Jerzy Hanusek [w:] Jerzy Bereś. Zwidy, wyrocznie, ołtarze, wyzwania, red. Aleksandra Węcka (Poznań: Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu, 1995), s. 128.