21 XII 1977

Student Club Pod Jaszczurami, Kraków

Manifestation description:

The interior of the club. On the floor lies a jute rug, on it the inscription ALAR OF CREATION. On the rug stands a medium-sized tree trunk with little legs. On the trunk a smaller block of wood is placed. Four white canvases on stretchers hang side by side on the wall. Underneath them, on the floor, lies a strip of jute with the inscription ALTAR OF EXHIBITIONISM. Next to it a piece of white fabric. Opposite the “Altar of Creation” there is a table with a bottle of wine and glasses. There is also a piece of white fabric with the inscription Altar of CONTACT on it. In the middle of the room a double folded gray fabric is placed on the floor, bearing the inscription ARTISTIC MASS. Action. The artist enters, holding an axe in his hand. He is covered only by two boards tied at his hips. On the front board his surname is carved, on the back board his first name. He walks up to the “Altar of Creation” and chops the block of wood into small pieces. He arranges them into a pile on the trunk, asks for matches and having received them, sets them on fire. He waits for a little while. Once the fire is burning vigorously, he removes the wooden covers from his hips and sets them on the trunk in such a way that the flames go between the boards. The place of his body is taken by the fire. The naked artist walks up to the “Altar of Exhibitionism” and puts his signature on four canvases, each in a different color: blue, red, yellow and green. He then covers himself with a piece of cloth lying there, tying it around his hips. He walks over to the table, pours wine into glasses and places the white fabric concertinaed so that the inscription of the ALTAR OF CONTACT is on top. The artist now walks to the center of the room and puts on – thanks to the existing slit – the fabric with the inscription ARTISTIC MASS picking it from the floor. On the back of the gray fabric the inscription EXHIBITION appears. He returns to the “Altar of Creation” and extinguishes the burning fire with water. A full jug of water was placed nearby for this purpose. The wooden covers bearing the inscription JERZY BERES are badly burned on the inside. The artist removes a piece of overburnt wood from the bonfire, walks over to the “Altar of Exhibitionism” and crosses out the charts with his own signature in blue, red and yellow. The chart with the green signature remains uncrossed. The artist takes off the gray fabric, folds it in half and places it in the middle of the room so that this time the word EXHIBITION is on top. Naked walks out of the room.

Photo by Adam Rzepecki