October 1985

Church of Divine Mercy at Żytnia Street in Warszawa

During the exhibition New Heaven, New Earth?

Description of the manifestation:

Location: A fairly spacious area in the church, right next to the entrance. The church is undergoing renovation; the floor is raw concrete. On the concrete, in five places arranged around the circumference of a large circle, there are inscriptions painted in white emulsion paint. Each inscription also forms a circle approximately one meter in diameter. The letters are arranged so they can be read from the outside: OGNISKO NADZIEI (BONFIRE OF HOPE), OGNISKO WOLNOŚCI (BONFIRE OF FREEDOM), OGNISKO GODNOŚCI (BONFIRE OF DIGNITY), OGNISKO MIŁOŚCI (BONFIRE OF LOVE), OGNISKO PRAWDY (BONFIRE OF TRUTH).

Action: Opening speeches are delivered. The author, dressed in regular opening-day attire, tears pages from the weekly Polityka. He covers the crumpled sheets with dry wood chips. Inside each circle formed by the white lettering, piles of material are created. When Marek Rostworowski announces the exhibition is open and invites those present to view it, the artist lights the bonfires. Five bonfires blaze spectacularly. An additional effect is that the very cold church becomes warm. The artist suggests that those interested repeat the activity during the whole duration of the exhibition. The bonfires were indeed lit.