Manifestation description:

The interior of a large and elongated exhibition hall at the BWA Gallery in Koszalin. The inscriptions on the walls mark the zones and simultaneously the phases of the planned action. In the front part of the exhibition hall, marked with the inscription CONVENTIONAL RITUAL, there is a large canvas on a stretcher (250 x 250) lying in the middle of the floor. Next to it stands a wooden clothes hanger. The canvas is marked with the black STRIP-TEASE inscription. The middle part of the room is marked with the inscription VITAL RITUAL. In the center there are two rectangular tables. At the sides there are two narrow white pedestals about 1 m high. These objects form a row dividing the hall in half. The front wall of the left pedestal bears the inscription EROTIC SACRIFICE. There is a twig with fresh green leaves placed on the pedestal. Next to it, on a table covered with a white tablecloth there is some fruitcake with the inscription VITAL ALTAR I. On the other table covered with the white tablecloth with the inscription VITAL ALTAR I  there are placed a bottle of vodka and glasses. On a pedestal to the right there is a cobblestone with the inscription MENTAL ALTAR. At the back of the room, in the center of the third zone marked with the inscription SPECIAL RITUAL, stands a podium measuring of 1m by 1m,  about 60 cm high. The podium is covered with a square of gray fabric. The corners of the fabric run down the sides of the pedestal. The fabric is cut in the middle, but you can’t see it. The inscription OGNISKO SZTUKI (BONFIRE OF ART) is written below it. Action. The audience waits in the hall. The artist enters the hall wearing a coat and fur hat which is natural for this time of year. A vertical black line runs through the center of his face. The director of the BWA Gallery welcomes the audience and introduces the artist. He gives a short occasional speech and announces that the event will have a special character. The artist thanks the director for the invitation and walks over to a white canvas lying on the floor. He applies black paint to the soles of his shoes with a brush, steps onto the canvas and imprints the largest possible circle of marks on it. He then walks over to a hanger and hangs his hat on it. He returns and prints a slightly smaller circle of marks on the canvas. He takes off his coat and hangs it on the hanger. He alternately imprints more and smaller circles of marks and hangs further pieces of his cloths on the hanger. After removing the shoes, the traces of bare feet are printed on the canvas.

The artist is naked. He applies black paint to the soles of his feet and then stands in the middle of the canvas. The audience can now see that the puzzling black line, which ran vertically across the author’s face, extends all the way down his body to his privates. The author imprints his last foot marks, leaves the canvas with the inscription STRIP-TEASE and walks up to the pedestal with the inscription EROTIC OFFERING. He stands in front of it, crosses the erotic organ of his body with a horizontal black line and immediately afterwards breaks the green branch lying on the pedestal.

He walks to the “Vital Altar I”, alternately breaks the cake into pieces and paints green branches on his torso which diverge from the black vertical line. He then moves on to the “Vital Altar II.” He alternately pours vodka into glasses and paints red flowers on his body on top of green shoots. The decoration in the shape of a flowering plant gets created on his body. The artist walks with the empty bottle to the plinth with the inscription MENTAL SACRIFICE. He dips his brush in paint and paints a horizontal blue line on his forehead. With a sudden movement, he smashes the bottle with a clatter against a stone lying on the plinth.

He walks to the zone of the “Special Ritual”. He walks up to the plinth, removes a square of gray fabric bearing the inscription THE BONFIRE OF ART and puts it on. This is possible because the fabric is cut in the middle. It turns out that on the plinth under the fabric there is a copy of the monthly “Art” and some wooden chips. The artist crumples the magazine, arranges the chips in a pile, asks for matches and sets the paper on fire. On the plinth protected by a sheet of metal, “Art” catches fire and then the wooden chips so that the real bonfire is burning.

By the glow of flames, the artist invites everyone to enjoy drinks and food at the “Altars of Vitality” and discuss art. When the bonfire begins to burn out, the artist walks over to the starting point of the whole manifestation that is the hanger. He gets dressed and puts a square of gray fabric with the inscription BONFIRE OF ART on the hanger.

„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. 112.