Aquarius

Aquarius is a sculpture sunk in the waters of the River Wilga, near where it joins the Vistula in Kraków. It is virtually invisible.

Aquarius is a figure of a crouching bishop with a mitre on his head, stretching out his hand to touch the bottom as if searching for a lost object. It is a life-sized figure, made of white-coloured concrete in which small black spiral snails' shells have been embedded. Submerged in water, the figure slowly becomes part of the river, the folds of its robe catching all kinds of plants and objects carried by the current. There is a sewage outlet nearby, so the water also carries sewage waste. The form, gradually corrupted by the water, should disappear in some years' time. Within four months it became almost completely black.

For now, the bishop lives according to the rhythm of the river - appearing when the water level drops and disappearing when it rises. For most of the time, the figure remains invisible, and all that can be seen from a bridge 30 metres away is a white shape looming under the water surface.

Aquarius is a project that can be imagined only. From the formal point of view, it is an experiment concerning the functioning of public sculptures - discreet, on the edge of visibility. And although this is a figurative sculpture, it is a figuration that can be reactivated only by the power of one's imagination, because all that is visible is a blurry white form.