16-18 V 2008

Park Kolibki, Gdynia

Photo by Ludwika Ogorzelec, Dorota Grubba

Description of the manifestation:

He enters naked, with a rope around his neck, into a roofed, partially glazed post-industrial shelter. The shelter is damaged, with some windows broken. Two small tables stand against the wall. On one are a European Union flag, a fresh flower, cups of paint, and brushes; on the other are vodka glasses, a bottle of Żubrówka vodka, and two oscypek cheeses on a board. About twenty people are watching the action.

He says: This noose is a double symbolic reference – on the one hand to the enslavement I, and all Poles, experienced when I was a child. Then something happened: I experienced a shock when I was nine years old and the Germans invaded Poland. That was the first time this gallows-like shock made me, as a child, wonder whether there was any point in living. But then the fight began. At this point, he removes the noose from his neck. These knots on this rope will represent knots of memory. He girds himself with a small white apron, covering his nakedness. He begins painting a symbol on his chest with blue paint.

He goes to the second table and unscrews the cap of the vodka bottle. He says that this is not a performance, so questions can be asked and people may talk. The point is that all the activities he performs have their own message. He pours vodka into several glasses and cuts a few slices of oscypek cheese. He returns to the first table and ties a knot in the rope. He says that this is in memory of various situations and events from the past that motivated me to incorporate this activity into what I call here, together with the action that will take place on Sunday, The Way of Being, not of living, but of being.

At this point, a man approaches the second table and begins pouring vodka into the glasses. Bereś approaches the table and begins to cut the cheese, but the man retreats. Someone in the audience asks what the symbol painted on his chest means. Bereś replies that for now it is part of a word, but he will paint additional letters so it can be read, and at the end he will explain why he needs that word. He walks between the tables, repeating the actions of pouring vodka, cutting cheese, and tying knots in the rope, until the word LOVE appears on his chest and the rope is covered in knots. He places glasses on a tray and goes around the audience, offering vodka and cheese.

He unfurls the European Union flag and hangs it on a wire. Someone in the audience begins to sing, reminiscent of Buddhist chants. The artist removes his apron and paints a red-and-white symbol on his penis. He makes a phallic imprint on the board through the flag.

He says that it has broken through, not really, but it has broken through. He asks those gathered to authenticate the event by signing the board. He puts his apron back on. He places a bundle of rope on the table and rests the board on it. The audience signs their names. Applause breaks out.

Part II.

In a vast parking lot, where cars and coaches are parked in various places, stands a two-wheeled cart with a very long shaft and enormous wheels made from slices of tree trunks. Bundles of wood and a roll of newspapers are attached to the shaft.

Bereś paints a circular inscription on the asphalt next to it, reading STACJA BOJAŹNI (STATION OF FEAR). The action is observed by a dozen or so participants from the first part and a large number of bystanders. Cars, bicycles, and pedestrians pass by. The artist unties a piece of wood and lights a bonfire in the center of the circle. He attaches a metal bell to the place where the bundle of wood had been tied. He looks at the blazing fire for a moment and, with difficulty, pushes the cart to another spot. The bell rings as he does so. He paints the inscription STACJA NĘDZY (STATION OF MISERY) and lights another bonfire. The number of observers grows. Another bell is tied to the cart. In another spot, he paints the inscription STACJA ROZPACZY (STATION OF DESPAIR) and lights a third bonfire. The final bonfire is lit at STACJA WSTYDU (STATION OF SHAME). Bereś then unfurls the European Union flag and attaches it to the cart’s shaft. He positions the cart with the shaft raised upward, and the flag begins to fly high.