Oxymoron

The performance referenced the theme of the 12th edition of the festival, "New New Media." This term was first introduced by Paul Levinson in 2007 and primarily refers to social media, which is based on the internet and the interactive delivery of content. Unlike traditional media such as television, in this new landscape, the recipient is also the sender of the message, becoming both a "content consumer" and a producer. This reflection on reality and communication, as mediated or created through the internet, particularly social media, led me to the concept of the "oxymoron."

An oxymoron is a contradictory phrase that undermines the inherent properties of a given entity—examples include "living corpse," "black light," or "dry water." While such phenomena may seem to exist mainly in poetry, particularly baroque poetry, where rhetorical figures evoke strong emotions, the situations described by oxymora are not always fictional. They can sometimes encapsulate real experiences and impart new qualities to various things and phenomena.

During the pandemic, social isolation and online communication were recommended. This raises the question: Is it possible to experience closeness from a distance? A distinctive feature of social media — and any medium allowing user comments on content — is emotionality, which spans a wide spectrum from ecstatic joy and hyperreality, as seen in advertisements, to intense waves of hate. In the performance, a visual essay addressing these issues, elements associated with ritual, audience interaction, and a manifesto were crucial.

fot. A. Sitko

A central prop was a smartphone mounted on a selfie stick, handled like an object of worship while continuously recording the action. In the first part of the performance, conducted in darkness, I shook hands with audience members, one by one, while simultaneously passing them lumps of ice. The remaining audience members were unaware of what the previous participants had received. I then lit the ice on fire and attempted to wash my body, which was smeared with black, with the melted water; however, the blackness would not wash off.

The final part of the performance took place outdoors at the amphitheatre in front of the Municipal Cultural Centre, where the audience and I lit sparklers together. As we did this, a projection of the sky was cast onto my body, and a synthetic voice, resembling an internet "oracle," emerged from the projector to proclaim the following lines:

Warming ourselves in a cold fire

We listen to logical absurdities

Artificially natural

We walk on already burning ice

In the dull sharpness of our judgments

Loving hatred

Seeking closeness from a distance

Hiding behind a transparent screen