24 II 2006

Manhattan Gallery, Łódź

Description of the action:

Two side tables stand in the room. On the first are a cut flower, an apron decorated with discreet blue embroidery, and a long package. On the second table is a kitchen board with smoked oscypek cheese on it; next to it are a bottle of Żubrówka vodka and glasses. Slightly forward, between the tables, stands a tripod.

Action: The artist enters naked, with a noose around his neck. Removing the noose, he explains what this symbol – present in many of his recent manifestations – means to him. It signifies that a large part of his life was spent in an enslaved country. It also carries a suicidal undertone that has accompanied him since he was nine years old. The German invasion of Poland was such a shock to him that it led to the thought: if such a thing is possible, then life has no meaning. Later came resistance, but the trace in his consciousness remains. After tying the noose, the author puts on an apron, covering the intimate part of his body. He goes to the second table and begins pouring Żubrówka into a glass, cutting oscypek cheese at the same time. He writes the letter T on his chest. He returns to the first table, further knots the rope, and writes the number 7 on his back. He repeats these actions at both tables until the rope of memory is knotted into a ball, the number 75 is written on his back, and the word TEST appears on the front of his body. The vodka is poured into glasses, and the cheese is sliced. The artist places the glasses next to the cheese on a board and approaches the audience, offering them refreshments. He returns to the first table and removes a European Union flag from the long package, hanging it on the tripod in the center of the room. He then removes his apron and applies white and red paint to his penis. Holding the kitchen board in his left hand, he positions it beneath the hanging flag and makes a red-and-white phallic imprint in its center, between the stars. His attention, however, is focused not on the flag but on the board, where a precise imprint has appeared. This was the test, corresponding to the word inscribed on his body. The artist declares aloud, with satisfaction, that it has finally broken through. He ties the apron around himself again, takes down the flag, and covers the second table with it. He places the rope knotted into a ball on the table and carefully lays the board diagonally on top, taking care not to smudge the fresh imprints. He places a cut flower in the bottle of Żubrówka and sets it in front of the table. With the material document of the manifestation complete, the author asks those present to authenticate it with their own signatures on the board. The board with the red-and-white imprint is filled with signatures.

Photo by A.Grzelak ((courtesy of the Manhattan Gallery in Łódź)