Potential painting, 1992, performance painting, Děčínský Sněžník
I lay down in a whole lot of red Vaseline and set on top of myself a large sheet of glass so that the surface of my body was flattened as much as possible by the weight of the glass, pressed down to the level of the Vaseline. The situation was recorded on video. It was difficult to discern in the monitor whether the picture was painted or live. Even the fact that outside was frosty and my body was quietly shivering corresponded with the shaking image in the monitor. Only an extreme close-up of my breath fogging the glass and the goose bumps on my body betrayed that this was a living person.
Potential Painting (1992, 5 min). Jiří Černický was a painter before he started painting. He was interested in the physical nature of painting and believed that painting is already contained in the world itself and does not necessarily have to be painted on a picture. He was interested in the existence of painting before painting, before the paints are applied to the canvas. This video is connected to the environment of the mine through the matter that becomes painting when in contact with the human body. It is the red vaseline that the artist got on the shaft. It’s a kind of three-dimensional painting come to life. The artist immersed himself in a tub of Vaseline, covered himself with glass and took a picture with a camera. The effect is slightly morbid, like a symbolist monochromatic painting that moves gently at times.
