Design Art Papers 2025 | No. 13

Fig. 7 / Tamás Szentjóby, Futile Objects Series, Scented Magnet , 1965 of persecution and imprisonment, prompting artists to performfor smalleraudiencesor inprivatesettings, encoding messages of dissent through subtle symbolism rather than overt critique. Despite these constraints, Polish artistic and cultural practices remained relatively free compared to other USSR satellite states, until the dramatic shift of the 1980s. The emergence of the SolidarityMovement and the subsequent imposition of the Martial Law in 1981 radicalized artistic opposition. Paradoxically, this crackdown pushed artists toward a dual strategy: subtle subversions became more visible in semi-public contexts, while the most radical and outspoken alternative art retreated further into private, and underground settings. [6] The generation of artists active in the1980shadobservedandparticipated intheexperimental actions of the 1970s, learning from pioneers like Jerzy Bereś and Maria Pinińska-Bereś, who had begun testing the boundaries of performance and body-based art. Jerzy Bereś and the Philosophy of his ‘Manifestation’ Jerzy Bereś developed a distinctive artistic practice rooted in his search for what he termed the „pureness of the ancestral and original form.” [7] Working with raw, minimally processed materials, like logs and planed timber, he created sculptures called ‘zwindi,’ [8] which embodied a pure, unlimited shape. Bereś theorized that ancient oracles and priests had manifested the purest form of art through ritual, and he positioned his own performances as contemporary equivalents of these sacred acts. He deliberately avoided the term happening , preferring manifestation to emphasize that his work extended his sculptural practice into a lively act of creation that needed the direct involvement of the body. Once activated through manifestations , his zwindi sculptures became zwidani .The latterweredescribedasdream-images, intended to provoke desire for an alternative reality, and to expose the shortcomings of contemporary Polish society. [9] Bereś's engagement with the Kraków art scene deepened after meeting Tadeusz Kantor in 1962. By 1964, Kantor's Kraków Group invited him to exhibit at the Krzysztofory Gallery, and in 1966 Bereś became an official member. His participation, alongside his wife, Maria Pinińska-Bereś, in Kantor's Panoramic Sea Happening at the Osieki plein air camp in 1967 proved transformative for both artists. This collaborative experience, which resonated throughout Central and Eastern Europe, [10] influenced Maria Pinińska- Bereś to use the corset motif and to document her performances with experimental photography, [11] and influenced Bereś to transition from static sculptures to objects and actions, requiring active viewer participation. Movement became central to his practice, and by 1968, he was ready to stage his first major manifestation. [12] Prophecy I and II: FromWarsaw to the KrakówBasement Bereś premiered his manifestation series in January 1968 at Warsaw's Foksal Gallery with Prophecy I . The setting incorporated wind-fallen branches and tree trunks from Łazienki Park, arranged in a pile, topped with a jute cloth inscribed PROPHECY I . The performer appeared holding an axe, hisneckwrapped inwhiteclothtied intoanoose, hiships covered in red cloth concealing carved wooden hip guards. Themanifestationunfoldedintwophases:first,aninteractive action inwhichaudiencemembers selectedspecificwooden pieces while rejected materials were thrown against the wall and painted white; second, a symbolic transformation in which the performer removed the noose, unwound the red and white cloths to form a bowstring, and constructed a bow with a pole as arrow, tied with the inscribed jute cloth. His final gesture was the removal of the wooden hip guard followed by the act of tying them to the erected trunk. This gesture was an actual integration into the work of art. Throughout the manifestation , Jerzy Piniński's Act of Creativity I was recited, providing oratorial accompaniment to the visual ritual. [13] Twomonths later, inMarch1968, Bereś restaged thework as Prophecy II in the basement of Kraków's Krzysztofory Gallery, introducing crucial modifications that intensified the work's political resonance. The setting now featured a village cart loadedwithfirewood, toppedwithapoleand securedwitha chain. Act of Creation I hung on the gallery wall, and the jute sheet labeled Prophecy II covered the cart, once unloaded. The artist retained the white cloth noose around his neck andredclothwithwoodenhipguards at hiships, still carrying an axe. But, this time, he also brought a stack of Kultura magazines. The interactive dimension expanded further, as the audience was encouraged to light fires using pages from Kultura , and to paint the cart blue, transforming it into an art object. Finally, at Bereś's instruction, the participants stacked logs beneath him to form a pyre. As someone read the Prophecy I text aloud, Bereś constructed his bow and arrow from a twig, rope, and red and white cloths, then signed the front hip guard with a charred stick taken from the fire, before tying both guards to the structure. He, once again, embeddedhimself symbolically in thebodyof theartwork. [14] The Basement as Site of Radical Presence The basement location of Prophecy II was not incidental. It was actually essential to the work's impact and meaning. The Krzysztofory Gallery's underground space created an atmosphere of complete immersion, where the audience could not maintain the distance typically afforded by conventionalexhibitionspaces.Thelowceilings, theenclosed environment, and the literal descent into the earth evoked both the secrecy, necessary for radical artistic expression, and the primal or even ritualistic quality that Bereś sought to channel. The fires lit within this confined space, with the smoke and the heat contributed to a sensory intensity that alignedwith thework's invocation. The symbolismof Prophecy II operated onmultiple registers. The burning of Kultura magazine pages carried immediate political significance: the performance took place on the very day that student protests inKrakówwere being violently suppressed by security forces. [15] The act of destroying the publicationthroughfirebecameareactiontostate-controlled art, while simultaneously asserting the vitality and necessity of artistic expression in the face of authoritarian control. The wooden cart, logs, pyre, noose, and thehip coverwereprops that evoked Christ's sacrifice, positioning the artist's body as both witness and offering. Standing atop the woodpile, as themanifestowas read aloud fromamakeshift perch, Bereś literalized the stakes of artistic practice under repression: the risk of being consumed and sacrificed, the necessity of being aware and resistant, and the refusal of staying uninvolved and silent. Bereś's zwidani carried no inherent value until activated 305 304 / / / / Caiete de Arte și Design / nr. 13 / 2025 / / / / Publicație a Centrului de Cercetare și Creație în Artele Decorative și Design / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /