ARTIFICIAL HELLS

the social under socialism
prepared a walk for his friends through one of the more picturesque streets
of Prague, moving past different assemblages, environments and attractions,
located both in the street and within people’s homes. In order to
maintain a low profile, the action was advertised solely by word of mouth;
once present, the audience was invited to perform simple tasks – akin to the
semi- scored participation of Kaprow’s early Happenings but with a slightly
surreal and absurdist edge. 14 The actions were designed to enhance each of
the senses (in keeping with the work’s alternative title, A Demonstration for
All the Senses): participants were given an object to carry for the duration
of the walk; they were led past an open window where a man sat at a laid
table and began to eat; they were locked for five minutes in a small room,
where perfume had been spilt on the floor (as ‘preparation, a disturbance of
their normal state of mind’); they were led past a man lying in the street
playing a double bass; then herded into a small area where they were encircled
by the organisers on motorcycles and in cars; they were asked to
arrange a number of objects in a row, and to rebuild this row 20 cm further
on; they watched a man glaze a window then break it; they were presented
with a book, from which each one tore a page; finally, participants returned
the objects they had been carrying since the beginning. At the end of
this sequence (which Knížák referred to as the ‘active part of the
Milan Knížák, A Demonstration for All the Senses, 1964
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