Człowiek wywrócony na drugą stronę. "Lekcja anatomii" Tadeusza Kantora
Man Turned inside Out. "An Anatomy Lesson" by Tadeusz Kantor

Summary/Abstract: A presentation of two versions of a happening by Tadeusz Kantor: An Anatomy Lesson after Rembrandt (Nürnberg 1968 and Warsaw 1969), envisaged as an artistic transposition of the historical formula of an anatomy lesson conceived as a performative act, with Kantor’s inspiration being Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. By evoking the famous canvas and bringing to life the scene it depicts Kantor simultaneously (directly and indirectly) referred to the tradition of anatomical theatres greatly popular in Renaissance Europe. The dramatic and performative nature of processes transpiring in the anatomical theatre is manifold and originates not solely from the existence of a primary theatrical situation: the actor-spectator relation, the impact and its recreation. Within the space of the anatomical theatre there occur assorted confrontations: the living encounter the dead, knowledge meets ignorance, bourgeois virtues – crime, and law – individuality. The situation is complicated already by the very status of the “actor” in the dissection spectacle; the person performing this operation (and his assistants) is both an actor and a director, or rather a performer (he does not play a part but portrays himself in direct connection with the situation and concentrates on the dynamics of the activity and not on its significance). The role of the actor is, however, to a certain extent enacted also by the corpse (simultaneously a “setting” and a “prop”). If we regard the dissection viaa widely comprehended performance then we shall witness a broad range of problems connected with the function fulfilled by the human body-living and dead – in the construction of meanings. Kantor carried out a sui generis re-enactment of the situation depicted in the canvas: a body lay on a table, a crowd of students stood at its head, with “Professor Tulp”, i.e. Kantor in the centre, carrying out the dissection. With great precision he cut successive pieces of the clothes layer after layer, searched all nooks, and turned the pockets inside out, finding in them ordinary and symbolic items. The cruel and horrific Nürnberg rendition and the comical and carnival-like Warsaw version of the happening constitute the reverse and obverse of the same primary situation – the process of turning a person inside out.

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