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Untitled 2

Courtesy galeria stereo
Courtesy galeria stereo
Courtesy galeria stereo
/5
    • Untitled 2
    • Bez tytułu 2
  • 1994
  • performance filmed on VHS, color, sound
  • 3min, 28sec
In this performance, Roman Stańczak carries out experiments in a bathtub standing alone in the middle of the room. The naked artist initially tries to keep his entire upper body underwater, emerging only in order to breathe. This sequence of immersion and emergence is repeated several times, after which the artist seemingly tries to breathe underwater before pulling the freestanding tub’s drain plug and letting the water drain out onto the floor. The overall action situates the artist as a naked performer on a specially set stage that serves to demonstrate the limits of bodily performance under certain physical restraints. His wrapping himself in a red towel before stepping out of the bathtub might be read as a religious act, yet the absence of real blood testifies to the profane inclinations of this action, heightening the problematics of the human body’s very existence. W.S.