Phlegethon-Miczenie II, 2005 Books printed before the Second World War, pencil drawings on pre-war book pages, crayon drawing on books, artist's body. Photo Hermann Feldhaus. Courtesy Lehman College Art Gallery, New York.
Phlegethon-Milczenie II,
Books printed before the Second World War, pencil drawings on pre-war book pages, crayon drawing on books, artist's body
Photo: Hermann Feldhaus. Courtesy Lehman College Art Gallery, New York
Phlegethon (River of Fire) is "the river that flows with fire which burns and does not consume" (Virgil VI, 265, 551). It is one of the five rivers in the realms of the underground.
Milczenie, in Polish silence, muteness, connotes inability to speak or to convey.
"Phlegethon-Miczenie II" is a triangular site-specific installation in a corner of the gallery. The sculpture is composed of books, opened and placed in several rows and layers.
All books were published before 1945. The books relate to language and philosophy and include classical German literature, history, poetry, mathematics and sheets of classical music,
all published in Germany, France and Poland. Among the books are drawings representing naked and solitary human figures, which the artist created on pages torn from the books in the
installation. Some of the books bare drawn marks from the artists' performance that took place at the Inter-Galerie, Potsdam (Berlin) in spring 2005.
