30 IX 2005

Krzysztofory Gallery, Kraków

The Altar of Fulfillment was a material document of the “Romantic Mass” manifestation (1978). He disappeared after the declaration of martial law on December 13, 1981.

Description of the action:

A wooden object stands in the center of the gallery. It is a kind of table-altar, the top of which is formed by two halves of a tree trunk joined together. Above the top is a horizontal slat, at the ends of which are two wooden bows. A metal gong hangs beneath the table. The entire piece rests on a long sheet of gray canvas with the inscription Altar of Fulfillment. Next to it, against the side wall of the gallery, stands a table covered with white canvas, with a bottle of vodka and glasses on it.

The artist unties a bundle of wooden slivers and arranges them around a crumpled piece of paper on the altar. At the same time, he explains to those gathered how the Altar of Fulfillment disappeared. This happened on December 13, 1981. It was then that the ZOMO (Motorized Reserves of the Citizens’ Militia) reportedly threw into the trash – along with banners from the student strike at the Academy of Music – the author’s entire exhibition, which had been created during the Romantic Mass on September 20, 1978. The exhibition had been moved from Krzysztofory to the Academy of Music, where it opened on December 6, 1981.

The author lights a fire on the tabletop and waits a moment for the flame to burn. He approaches the side table and, pouring Żubrówka into glasses, paints red flowers on the white tablecloth. Meanwhile, the fire burns through the altar rail. When the artist tries to add a new bundle of wood, the rail gives way, and the wooden bows strike the gong. The remnants of the flame from the burning altar are extinguished. The artist ties together sections of the burnt rail so that the wooden bows can strike the gong when the structure is moved. Finally, he invites those gathered to help themselves to vodka and hangs a white cloth decorated with red flowers on the taut rope of the altar. The Altar of Fulfillment has been recreated.

Photo by Marek Gardulski