9 III 1995

Galeria Le Lieu, Centre en Art Actuel, Quebec

(MANIFESTATION MADE AS PART OF A JOINT TRIP OF A GROUP WHICH ALSO INCLUDED MAREK CHOŁONIEWSKI, WŁADYSŁAW KAŹMIERCZAK AND ARTUR TAJBER. THE GROUP WAS INVITED BY LE LIEU GALLERY)

Description of the manifestation:

This is a modification of an action performed in Zielona Góra in the autumn of 1990.

Location: A medium-sized exhibition hall. The centre of the room is empty; slightly to the side stands a table with a bottle of vodka, vodka glasses, cups of green and black paint, and brushes. The gathered audience awaits the artist.

Action: A commotion is heard. The artist, crouching low, rolls in a large, raw tree trunk brought straight from the forest. He is naked, with a vertical white stripe painted on his penis and a red one beside it, and a rope looped around his neck, dragging on the ground. He stops in the centre of the room and sets the tree trunk upright. The inscription MONUMENT VIVANT appears, painted in white on the bark. The artist addresses the audience and says that this will not be a performance, in part because he himself is deeply reflective at the end of the century and the end of the millennium. He removes the rope from his neck and places it on the tree trunk. He goes on to say that this is a time when countless contradictions arise in both life and art: between nature and civilization, between the natural and the artificial, between the objective and the subjective. As he speaks, he alternately paints green letters on the front of his body and pours vodka into glasses. After painting each letter, he ties the rope into an increasingly larger knot. After filling a glass, he paints various symbols on his back with black paint: exclamation marks, question marks, crosses. Periodically, he reminds the audience that this is not a performance. He also asks whether he has painted each symbol correctly. The audience responds enthusiastically, and the atmosphere momentarily relaxes – until they fall silent again, watching the action unfold. They are jolted from this stillness by yet another reminder that this is not a performance, followed by another question about whether the symbol was painted correctly. Finally, the vodka is poured into glasses, the rope is tied into a knot, and the green inscription PARADOX appears on his chest. The artist takes the knot in one hand and a brush dipped in green paint in the other. He climbs onto the tree trunk, paints a green dot on his penis, and throws the brush aside. He lifts the knot upward, spins around, and says that this is the announced living monument, symbolizing the reflective state he has spoken of. As he continues to spin, he says that at this point he enters a paradox characteristic of performance, from which there is no escape. The only way out, he says, is to invite the audience to drink. The audience rushes to the table, helps themselves to vodka, surrounds the artist, and clinks glasses with him. The artist then declares that the action is not yet finished. He leaves the room briefly, then returns carrying cups of white and red paint. He takes the knot and says he is taking it with him as a souvenir. He will leave white and red footprints for those who come after. He paints his left foot with white paint, steps onto the tree trunk, and leaves a footprint. Beside it he leaves a red footprint, signs it, and dates it. He says he is leaving the tree trunk as a memento of his stay and of the action.

Photo by Artur Tajber