Okruchy pod stołem

(crumbs under the table) Mysterious Barricades #3
Nowy Sącz, Poland
Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA SOKÓŁ
Invited by Alicja Gołyźniak and Arti Grabowski
Duration: 21 minutes
Photographs by Monika Deimling

Event poster for the day of performance art at Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA SOKÓŁ in Nowy Sącz 2024 curated by Alicja Gołyźniak

Context:

I presented my first performance in Poland in 1996, in a small town called Andrychów. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of performing in various places across Poland, but until recently, I had never performed in Nowy Sącz—a town in the south of Poland, about two hours by bus from Kraków. Like many small towns, Nowy Sącz holds unexpected treasures. I was delighted to discover that one of my favorite Polish artists, Jerzy Bereś, was born there. Another gem of the town is the Gallery of Contemporary Art BWA SOKÓŁ, a remarkable building that functions almost like a mini museum with its modern design and facilities.

Curator and director Alicja Gołyźniak invited Arti Grabowski, Aleksandra Kubiak, and me to perform at The Day of Performance Art: One Day I’m Gonna Make the Onion Cry. Together with an attentive audience, our three distinct approaches to performance art created a rich artistic dialogue that engaged all the senses.

The third performance in my work cycle Mysterious Barricades was presented in the gallery’s main exhibition space, named after another significant artist from Nowy Sącz: Władysław Hasior.

” … BBB Johannes Deimling enchanted the audience with a performance from his series “Mysterious Barricades” – a pervasively symbolic, visual masterpiece built with simple and accessible means. The performance was very painterly in its essence, but utilised the perceptual possibilities of the other senses as well as the image. True to his aesthetic, the artist composed the performance based on expressive colour accents and props from everyday life, which he translated into gestures and movements. Characteristic of Johannes’ performances is the departure from the linear development of the plot, but the construction of the performance through a collage of achronological elements, so that logic and rationality are lost in the process of the work and the viewer enters a field of new meanings, completed by his own imagination. …” (Alicja Gołyźniak)

Description of actions:
A collage of performance images and sounds is created by executing the following actions with selected material.

 

  • Walking in a circle around two blue chairs and a suspended, turning table with a puppet bed attached to a guiding cross. [As the audience enters the space, the movement causes the earth from the puppet bed to fall, creating a dark circle on the gallery’s yellow floor.]
  • Stopping with the puppet bed directly in front of the audience and moving my right hand very slowly over the heads of the seated individuals. [The gesture resembles a motion of collecting something.]
  • Reaching into my pocket and withdrawing my hand, slowly sprinkle golden and silver stars into the puppet bed, onto the black earth. [A shimmering stream of stars cascades into the bed.]
  • Reaching into the puppet bed and digging out a silver bell buried in the earth. [A soft bell sound emerges.]
  • Walking around the table and the two blue chairs while shaking the silver bell, heading toward a bowl of water.
  • Immersing the ringing bell in and out of the water bowl. [The sound of the bell shifts each time it meets the water.]
  • Lifting the now stationary table using my back and shoulders.
  • Placing the table on the floor among several white plates.
  • Reaching underneath the table and turning the plates. [The spinning plates produce a loud ceramic sound.]
  • Drawing five long lines on the white wall using charcoal.
  • Painting two white stripes onto my face.
  • Sitting on one of the blue chairs and balancing the other on my shoulder. Stretching my arms out and slowly move them up and down, gradually increasing, then decreasing the motion.
  • Placing one chair upside down atop the other and positioning a white plate filled with hay on the seat, then setting the hay on fire.
  • Using a silver soup spoon to scoop black earth from the puppet bed and transfer it onto white porcelain plates. Throwing the plates in front of the audience. [The plates shatter on the floor, leaving black and white traces. The fire dies down, releasing acrid smoke that rises from the chairs.]
  • Moving the table and chairs in front of the charcoal-drawn lines on the wall, sitting down, and throwing small yellow dough balls at the wall.
  • Using the hay’s ashes to paint over the white stripes on my face, turning them black.
  • Drawing a musical clef on the five charcoal lines.
  • Burying the silver bell back into the puppet bed.

Video documentation of the performance
8:19 minutes

Camera: Watzek Wawrzyniak
Editing: BBB Johannes Deimling
2024