The idea of LIVING SCULPTURES arose from reflection on existence and moment, from the need of discovering one’s “self” and from the confrontation with another human being. It stems from the recognition of what is significant or, paradoxically, what is funny. It combines seriousness and irony but first of all attentive observation, sensitivity to social problems and to the Other and subversive play. It feeds on everyday life but may also be fixed in another, e.g. virtual dimension.
At times it is brought to life spontaneously, an intuitive reaction to the moment. On other occasions it may be a meticulously programmed activity. It may take the form of an intimate secret performance or, like a flashmob, it may be a collaborative action. And thus today Deleuze’s beauty of the moment is defeated by the powerful sensation of reality where the features delete, reset and frag become an everyday reality or rather necessity and prevent an exaggerated and excessive lamentation over the short– lived living sculptures.
Therefore we adopt only an historical stand to the original, i.e. the 1970 performance Singing Sculptures by Gilbert and George, or Vanessa Beecroft’s projects from 1997–2009 with the participation of crowds of stylised models shown in galleries and public venues. The projects of more recent years, such as Paweł Althamer’s action Shared Cause (Wspólna sprawa) of 2009, or a performance duo Referee (Sędzia Główny) made in TVP Kultura in 2008, are debatable and yet closer to contemporary times.
The realm of art that relates to the questions addressed by Living Sculptures seems extensive and ambiguous. Let us add to it, then, our experience of the last few months of 2010.