Fresh Breeze—a Performance Dedicated to Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz

mThe performance took place at the opening of a group show, Balance of Power. In her curatorial text accompanying the exhibition, Marta Szulc writes, “We want to create a draft, stir the stagnant air, and oxygenate this place. Opening the windows and doors is a symbolic gesture meant to help release unprocessed emotions that have seeped into these walls. A kind of ritual. We refer to the stories that resonate most strongly with us and tell them through the lens of contemporary sensitivity.”

Fresh Breeze, script

Fresh Breeze, a script ot the performance 0. Entry

I open the space: Our guide through this space is a phantom quartz. Anyone who wants to be part of a Fresh Breeze can follow me.

0. Entry: walking through the stairwell:
Reality exists as a network of connections between everything. These connections exist beyond the past and future. This is our awareness, which creates them. My performance is an encounter with Anna and Jarosław in an extrasensory realm. An intention which created this space is the question: what can I do for you? Standing at the top of the stairs, I drop two balls: a yellow one represents the sun, and a white one represents the moon. As the balls roll down the stairs, I say:
– WATCH OUT FOR THE SUN AND THE MOON, FOR THEY ARE UNDER YOUR FEET.

1. The Dying Room
I sit on a chair. I attach Anna’s ear cut out from the reproduction of the portrait she gave to Jarosław on their wedding day to my chest. I take out glitter wrapped in paper. While singing the song Heaven Can Wait by Charlotte Gainsbourg, I apply glitter to my shoulders, hands, neck, and legs.

2. The Study
I read aloud Jarosław’s letter to Anna. While reading it, I circle clockwise. Halfway through reading the letter, I started circling counterclockwise. After I finished reading it, I placed the letter on the floor. I started calling out to Jarosław and Anna using their nicknames.

3. The Bedroom
I sat on the floor at the head of Anna’s and Jarosław’s beds. I took out flashcards with Anna and Jarosław’s nicknames, which appeared in their letters. I spread them around myself on the floor, reading the nicknames aloud. I stood up, saying:
– My sweetheart, it smells a bit in here.
– Yes, my dear husband, it stinks. Will you open the window?
– My kili-kili, this very moment!

The window was opened.
– Finally, we can breathe. Finally, I can say, “I love you.” As I leave, I dialog as Anna and Jarosław, saying: I love you!

Performance Fresh Breeze was a part of an exhibition Balance of Power
01.09 – 10.11.2024
Museum in Stawisko

Participating Artists: Wojciech Gilewicz, Agata Groszek, Bartosz Kokosiński, Monika Mamzeta, Katarzyna Sobczuk, Małgorzata Widomska, Marta Szulc, and Monika Waraxa.

Curator: Marta Szulc