1 X 2004

Maschinenhaus, Essen

Description of the action:

Location: The large, austere hall of the Cultural Center, built within the former buildings of a disused coal mine. The concrete floor is several meters high and partially tiled with ceramic tiles. The walls are dark brick, with tall, narrow windows. In the center of the hall stand two tables. Between them, a European Union flag hangs on a tripod. On the first table lies a cut flower (a sunflower); on the second, a kitchen chopping board, a bottle of vodka, and vodka glasses.

Action: The artist takes a bucket of white paint and a brush and paints a large inscription reading HEARTH OF HOPE on the floor, some distance from the tables. The letters form a circle. He covers a crumpled newspaper with wood chips and sets it on fire. Further along the hall, he paints another inscription reading HEARTH OF FREEDOM and, with the help of those present, lights another bonfire. In this way, additional bonfires are created, radiating from the tables in the center of the hall: HEARTH OF DECENCY, HEARTH OF LOVE, HEARTH OF TRUTH.

The artist now leaves the hall, where, alongside the illuminated European Union flag, the tall flames of five bonfires light the dark space. After a long moment, he returns naked, with a loop of thick rope around his neck. He declares to the audience that his journey to Europe has been a long one. To prove this, he distributes photocopied documentation of a manifestation entitled Wooden Road, he held exactly thirty years earlier in Grugapark in Essen.

He then approaches the first table, removes the loop from his neck, tightens the knot in the rope, and paints a cross on his back with green paint. He moves to the second table, pours alcohol into a glass, and places it on the wooden board. He paints the letter T on the front of his body. He continues tying knots in the rope, painting more crosses on his back, filling the glasses, and painting further letters on his torso. Finally, the rope is knotted into a ball, and the word TOAST appears on his torso. The artist takes the board with the filled glasses and offers them to those assembled. He then returns to the center of the room, applies white and red paint to his penis, places the board on the opposite side of the flag, and imprints a white-and-red mark on it, creating a material document of the manifestation. He covers the empty table with the European Union flag, places the knotted rope on it, and rests the board on top. In front of the table, he places a vodka bottle with a sunflower inserted into it. As the fires die down, the artist takes a glass of vodka that has been set aside and invites those present to drink a toast and sign the material document (material proof).