Flaccid, languid, dormant. Or erect, poised, brimming with physiological essences. Grzegorz Bibro’s phalluses are a manifesto of diversity. They allure with form, intrigue with colour and shape. Soft, undulating, they elude stereotypes and the rules of technology. Imprinted in glass – they acquire a solid form of inscription.
Isn’t there an abundance of phallic imagery throughout history?
Bibro’s artworks introduce a novel quality. They are a liberation from form, an affirmation of life.
The artist reaches for fragile yet vivid media – glass and light. They bring respite for the eyes, yet primarily for the body.
reclaiming masculinity
The phallus, once a symbol of fortune and power in antiquity, depicted on the entrance doors of households as a talisman, has, since the Christian era, been treated as a source of filthiness. Bibro reaches for archetypes of masculinity to confront them. Initially, he interpreted the phallus in the long-running series of neon works titled Big Bang. Through these sculptural light installations – images reduced to lines and light – the artist aims to return to primal strength and well-being. Sanctity? Bibro’s phalluses are varied – soft, drooping, free, living their own dynamics, resisting the visual pressure of erection. The neons are ambiguous: they function as autonomous signs, yet also inscribe themselves into the urban fabric, within the context of everyday experience. Bibro’s big bangs stimulate and unleash the energy of change[1].
totems of (in)potency
The glass phalluses accentuate the outlined potential even more strongly. They are a demonstration of diversity and emancipation, a meeting of the sanctity of the body and the intricacies of physiology. They are like a sexual act frozen in a frame. Erections, liberated from the pressure of procreation, celebrate body pleasure. We encounter them before, after, or during. Frozen in glass, acts of pleasure, celebrations of touch, apertures and protrusions, pleasing to the eye and hand.
They give life because they provide pleasure.
The sculptures are positioned at the juncture of the private and public domains, as well as the utilitarian and artistic realms, through the deliberate selection of medium and material. This nuanced relationship, meticulously delineated by the artist, navigates between the realms of the decorative and the critical.
from liquid to solid
The underpinning of the creative process is intriguing. What serves as the prototype for these glass forms? Where do the shapes and scenarios originate? Is this collection real or imagined?
The glassblowing process itself evokes physiological and physical associations. The molten glass mass stretches, drips, solidifies, shrinks. It heats up and cools down. Bibro’s objects are created without the use of moulds, employing the technique of hand-shaping glass. They emerge from imagination, breath, and hand. The molten glass mass requires human exhalation to ultimately take shape and solidify.
Place: a glassworks
Characters: the artist (glassblower) and his assistant, sometimes just the artist
States of matter: liquid, solid, gas
Elements: water, fire, earth, air
Scene 1. Shape
there are no ready-made forms, only ideas, concepts
at first, a small bubble appears, preferably egg-shaped
the glass is heated in the furnace and shaped outside it before it loses heat
if it’s too cold, it will crack; if too hot, it will lose its shape
heat, cold, heat, cold, alternately
the process cannot be interrupted, it is continuous
the work requires observing the material and understanding glass, finding rhythm
some speak to the glass, as one would to flowers, for better growth
successive gathers of colourless glass
each new layer requires shaping and blowing
hot glass is shaped with a damp newspaper placed directly on the hand
water evaporates, paper burns – smoke arises, and one must work breathlessly
it’s better to keep your eyes open, even if they are itchy
the object becomes increasingly larger and heavier
sometimes there’s no way to wipe off the sweat from the face, so it runs into the eyes
care must be taken to prevent sweat drops from dripping onto the glass
it’s better to avoid blowing too hard, otherwise, the bubble’s walls will be as thin as a sheet of paper and disintegrate in the hands
Scene 2.Colour
there are transparent and opaque colours, intense and pastel
there’s a rod colour that can be applied to the first layer of glass, for the most intense effect
or there’s powdered colour; sometimes the final form resembles bread sprinkled with flour that hasn’t fully melded into the bake
the number of powder applications determines the colour’s intensity
the colours are applied between the layers of transparent glass
it’s like submerging an object in water: you achieve the effect of deep immersion by applying the colour to the first, inner layer, leaving subsequent layers colourless. If you want a shallow “submersion”, you apply the colour to the penultimate layer
someone once said that with a wide range of colours, it takes courage to choose plain transparent glass
it’s worth peeking inside the phalluses, checking how the colour is arranged
Scene 3. Bending
the glass bubble is shaped with available tools, temperature and gravity
oval, soft forms with streamlined shapes are created
liquid glass descends onto metal elements
sometimes it’s a metal wire or tube that allows bending the bubble into an arc
other times, a steel rod is used for sculpting (for example, sculpting the scrotum, creating its characteristic dividing line)
the bent shape often exposes the blowhole of the blown object
I want to speak about the body through technology, accentuating the orifices
Scene 4. Texture
I comb the hot glass
with a wire brush I attempt to replicate the texture of hair imparting additional texture
using brushes or other metal tools
Scene 5. Releasing tension
I only rest when the glass goes into the annealer, where it cools and releases tension
it takes at least a day
then I can calmly inspect the object, evaluate it, and plan grinding work
You learn about the glass material through constant observation, experimentation, and making mistakes.
You’re in the body.
You blow with your mouth, sculpt with your hand.
axis of the world
The phallus symbolizes the axis of the world, light, a ray of light; the fertile forces of Nature, the perpetuation of life, creative energy, the Self[2]. The divine messenger Hermes is equipped with a healing, phallic caduceus – a rod made of olive wood entwined by two snakes – with the power to reconcile disputes and bring important news. Hermes escorted the souls of the deceased to Hades, and the rod allowed him to move safely between worlds.
In the film Balkan Erotic Epic created as part of the Destricted series, which explores the relationships between art and pornography, Marina Abramović reenacts Balkan rituals associated with human and natural fertility. In Balkan culture, male and female genitalia have been used as tools against diseases and adverse natural forces since ancient times, explains the artist. One of these rituals is the fertilization of the soil – to ensure successful harvests, men copulate with moist, freshly sown soil in early spring. The film’s final scene features a traditional Balkan song, with a female voice singing verses about attachment to the land, faith, destiny, and the burdens of struggle. These solemn tones accompany a changing view of a group of men dressed in Slavic costumes, their penises protruding from openings in their pants – initially erect and ready, but soon shrinking and drooping. Abramović’s work calls for a reevaluation of perspectives on sex, the body, and societal roles.
In Hindu metaphysics, the lingam signifies the super-space in which the entire physical cosmos is contained. It is sometimes illustrated as the primordial cosmic egg from which the universe and all creatures emerge. It is also depicted as a luminous pillar, a manifestation of the god Shiva, giving rise to the worlds. Hence, the lingam is often compared to the phallus, mainly by Christian scholars of Hinduism. Interestingly, in the practices of yoga and tantra, three lingams are visualized, with ovoid or vase-like shapes. They serve as energy centers within the body, located in the vicinity of the groin, heart, and forehead, known as the “third eye”. Integrating these points within the intense act of deep meditation allows the redirection of sexual energy into the realms of knowledge, intuition, or even enlightenment[3].
The phallus holds transformative power. It can be whatever it wishes.
pressure absorption
Pillows resemble male torsos. We observe cut frames, juicy parts from the whole, from the interior of the male body. We immerse ourselves in the intimacy of the photographed scene. Prayer, masturbation, deep relaxation? We experience only a snippet of the frame, unaware of what is happening underneath and above.
Is the shirt covering the body a shroud, a bedsheet soaked with pleasure, or a meditative robe devoid of any levitating body?
what are you staring at?
Where there is a hole in the glass, there is an orifice in the body. And vice versa declares the artist. He encourages exploring the works using the sense of sight, peering through the holes in the sculptures. The way the colour is arranged, whether a vein cracked, or a hair got tangled somewhere. This is art, thus a simulation of truth. But is it really?
There is something voyeuristic about it, about staring. We peek through the keyhole into someone’s bedroom, bathroom, under the covers. We observe intimate scenes, feel them in our bodies – the hard, glassy forms materialize, return to soft tissue, subjective interpretations, the space of imagination.
Staring is neither neutral nor innocent. But the staring, which Bibro invites us to, has the power of liberation. The phallus intrudes, penetrates to enrich, activate, heal what it permeates[4].
Scenes of staring contribute to the creation of new narratives. To stare is to inquire[5].
We dread visibility, without which our existence remains incomplete (…). And this very visibility, which exposes our vulnerabilities,, paradoxically becomes the wellspring of our greatest strength[6].
Bibliography
[1] See Agata Kiedrowicz, How to design the beginning? Design as a rite of passage, in: Design as a platform for recognizing and shaping social relations., Waldemar Wojciechowski, Anna Sienkiewicz (red.), Academy of Art in Szczecin, 2022, p. 105.
[2] Władysław Kopaliński, Dictionary of symbols, Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw 1990, p. 89.
[3] The book of symbols, Taschen, 2010, p. 408.
[4] Władysław Kopaliński, op. cit., p. 90.
[5] Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Straing: How we look, Fundacja Teatr 21, Warsaw 2020, p. 159.
[6] Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider, quoted from: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, op. cit., p. 158.
