- 12 Nov 2022 12 pm UTC
- dur 10 min
Covered in foil, I sit inside an aquarium slowly filled with water. As a performer, I am crossing the boundaries of my experience, voluntarily losing its separateness and cutting myself off from ordinary consciousness for the sake of the subconscious. The initial denial of the situation results from the essence of approaching the transcendental depth, which is inextricably linked with rubbing against the darkness, the extreme, and death. It is also connected with the loss of individualism incapable of going beyond the limits of bourgeois happiness for the sake of supra-individual joining in the name of a greater idea. The body as an emblem of the Enlightenment \”I\” must be repressed and mortified for the sake of the ritual mass. However, by taking this idea to the extreme, it would be possible to justify all the most controversial, terrible human activities, including those that, in the name of a greater idea, can exceed all limits A thought that sounds at first noble-repentant will quickly lead to the worst darkness of humanity, justifying autotelic violence.
Dawid Konopka is a visual artist and performer from Poland. He tackles the topics of observational and critical activities in public space, working with the body and redefining the elements of the present. ARTIST’S WEBSITE