17 IX 1988

Museum of Modern Art, Oxford

during the opening of the ART AT THE EDGE exhibition (September 18 – October 30)

Description of the manifestation:

In the center of the room stands a table with chess pieces arranged for play. Beside it is a coat rack. The artist enters naked. A board with the word OBJECT written on it hangs from a rope around his neck. He stands next to the museum director, who delivers the introductory remarks. When the director finishes his speech, the artist turns to the audience and says: Marcel Duchamp played with objects, introducing them into art as ready-mades. Yves Klein, in turn, used living people as objects, imprinting models onto canvas with paint. Finally, Joseph Beuys objectified himself by making his life a work of art. I, however, now want to break this objectifying line in art. He removes the board from his neck and hangs it on the coat rack.

He declares that he wants to focus on the subjective-objective, or rather on the drama of the subject who is forced into an objective situation. He approaches the table with the chess pieces and makes a move with the white pawn. He takes a brush and paints half of a letter on his body. Then he moves to the other side of the table, makes a move with the black pawn, and finishes the letter he began, using red paint. He continues playing against himself for a while, painting white and red letters. The game develops until the white-and-red inscription SHAME appears on his body.

He then stands in front of the table and says to the audience: We in Poland are acutely aware of the drama of the objectification of our subjectivity that occurred at the Yalta Conference. There, we were transformed from subjects into objects. The drama of desubjectification occurs in today’s world on various levels. Of course, it affects individuals, but it also marks the disappearance of the intersubjective sphere in social life and is a problem for those in power – something Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher should remember during her visit to Poland. After these words, he leaves the room.