Intervention 12/79

The Interwencja 12/79 is a part of Edward Krasiński's series, which he created from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. The pieces in the Interwencje series are not paintings in the traditional sense of the word, but rather geometric constructions, most often in 100 × 70 cm format, which feature a blue line that enters the painting or goes right through it. These works were created for group presentation, as spatial installations connected by a blue tape – without beginning, without end, but always blue, 19 millimetres wide and attached at the height of 130 centimetres. Krasiński is one of the most important representatives of the avant-garde movement in post-war Poland. In 1969, he got blue scotch tape, which was unavailable in the Polish People’s Republic, as a gift. He first experimented with it at home and in his immediate surroundings, and then covered the courtyard of the Musée d'Art Moderne da la Ville de Paris with it in 1970. In the same year , Krasiński was invited to participate in the Tokyo Biennial – one of the most important cyclical exhibitions in the world promoting experimental art. When it became apparent that his works would not make it to Tokyo for the opening, he sent a telegram to the organisers – the word “blue” repeated 5,000 times in Morse code – and asked it – a roll of perforated paper 80 metres long – to be exhibited as his work. This spontaneous, conceptual gesture of the artist had a strong impact on his later work, as if opening the door for the blue line. This gesture also has the spirit of Duchamp and his readymades using already existing, factory produced things in art.

Marlena Chybowska-Butler