On August 2nd and 3rd, the annual Printmaking In Festival took place in Pärnu, the summer capital of Estonia. This year, though, the festival was combined with Diverse Universe, a nomadic performance art festival, creating a wonderfully complex environment with two days full of graphic art, performances, fire, destruction, and free expression. Pärnu Loovlinnak, an old beer factory’s half-dilapidated but charmingly rustic quarters, hosted most of the performances. Renowned Polish artist Arti Grabowski’s opening performance was a fierce and inspiring kickoff to the festival.
Picture this: in the middle of the courtyard of the venue stand rows and rows of wooden chairs. A rusty oil barrel sits to the left, adorned with graffitied signs. The performance begins when punk rock music starts blasting from the speakers. Arti, wearing a disheveled black tank top, shorts, and cycling glasses, picks up a sign from the barrel that says Are you ready to take a picture? Everything that unfolds afterwards is nothing short of powerful provocation loaded with fiery political commentary.
Arti sets the individual signs between the chairs facing the crowd, all of them displaying sentences like Dog eat dog, No one will get out of here alive, and Cushy job, amongst others. It’s a captivating experience watching him stick the signs between the chairs while simultaneously setting ablaze some of the props on the chairs while music floods the courtyard. The riotous energy peaks when Arti starts shooting the now neatly placed signs with a paint gun. The air is loaded with raw criticism towards societal and political shortcomings with some added heat.
At one point, he brings forth a large white flag, waving it at the audience, showing signs of surrender to society’s expectations and norms. But that’s not Arti! He continues by placing the fabric of the flag into a tin filled with jetblack paint, coating the flag to the point of no return and then puts it back on the pole, waving the flag around ferociously. Later, he wears the paint-soaked fabric like a cloak of sorts, staining his now shirtless body black.
The end of the performance gets even more unhinged when a truck with a crane backs up to the temporary stage. A heavy-duty rope had been tied between all the chairs, and Arti hooked the end of it to the crane. He then aggressively waves the sign saying Are you ready to take a picture? The crane slowly lifts the whole set of seats upwards in the air, and Arti begins climbing them like a madman. The whole scene creates an image of someone conquering the Eiffel Tower. As he is climbing, the chairs shake off an ungodly amount of sawdust that was previously laid on top of them, making the whole process look arduous but utterly spectacular.
Arti Grabowski’s performance was an indescribably well-thought-out experience filled with social criticism, captivating visuals, and magnetic energy. It made a deep impression on my festival experience as a whole, and I will most definitely keep an eye on his projects in the future. Next year, I suggest everyone go and enjoy the fascinating madness of the Printmaking In and Diverse Universe festivals if you are even slightly interested in the performance art scene, especially if Arti Grabowski is in the program!
Author: Mia
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