Do Not Count On Anything

Elżbieta Jabłońska’s work has the form of a small poster: the short sentence “NIE LICZ NA NIC” [Do not count on anything] painted with anaemic brush-strokes on paper. In the case of this work, it is definitely possible to speak of an interconnection between the form and contents. The pessimistic message is perfectly complemented by the slightly uncertain hand movement, fading brush-stroke, and the lettering uneven as if it were sinking into the white background. The initial contact with the insistent text brings no positive feelings. Yet the formula “do not count on anything” may be read as a subversive manifesto based on the rejection of the frustrating, arrogative approach. This short phrase may also be understood as meaning “expect nothing”, “desist”, “forbear”. This decisive declaration, nearly aggressive in its tone, in reality carries a promise of a truly Buddhist serenity. It suggests that resignation from extravagant demands and acceptance of reality may result in peacefulness and harmony.

Do Not Count On Anything is a work which appeared in various contexts, always revealing a profusion of meanings and associations it evoked. At the Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Zielona Góra (2008) the sentence was transferred onto a huge banner. At the Biała Gallery in Lublin, where it was shown at the Major Renovation exhibition (2008) held in the former monastery of the Sisters of the Visitation in Lublin, it was embroidered on white curtains. Barely visible, it required concentration and diligence in deciphering; this was to bring reflection upon established perceptions and help in overcoming mental schemata.

The work was shown in Belfast as part of the Energy Class: B project in May 2009. It was complementary to the general topic: the condition of Poland, including the essential theme of the Poles’ image in Europe and their self-stereotype. Situated within the context of new reality: the condition of a post-totalitarian state functioning on the economic periphery of the European Union, Jabłońska’s work acquired an ironic overtone. When referred to the area between the East and the West, the centre and the periphery, it revealed mainly a perception of economic and technological regression, apathy and pessimism, and tendency to passive arrogation instead of active exertion. Posters with the short phrase “NIE LICZ NA NIC” were placed (illegally) in various locations in Belfast. An interesting aspect of this action was the reception of Jabłońska’s work, both by the Polish immigrants living in the city and by the native residents of Northern Ireland, the region once torn by political and religious conflict and considered to be Great Britain’s economic “B-zone”. To the Irish, Jabłońska’s work was undecipherable on the level of the verbal message, impinging upon their perception only through its minimalist, somewhat sordid, yet probably legible aesthetics.

Izabela Kopania

translated from Polish by Klaudyna Michałowicz